


The Alternate Game

by Ghastjio



Series: T.A.G. Universe [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, F/F, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Humanstuck, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Superherostuck, anyway that's it for now thank you for coming to by tagtalk, both of those are. kinda a thing. you'll get it when you read, especially relationships, gotta make my life hard somehow, i don't know why i ever listed every character individually but you know, if you're reading this far. be worried about davekat, oh yeah prolly gotta tag romance, tags can and will change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-10-28 09:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 46,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17784692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghastjio/pseuds/Ghastjio
Summary: They won the game, but it was only the beginning. Something went wrong (or maybe it was planned all along). Now six gods are stuck on Earth, memories of the battles and deaths still fresh in their mind as they try to find some way back. None of their friends seem to remember, and as old enemies reappear, the goal of leaving this new game grows further and further out of reach.Unknown to our band of heroes, The Alternate Game isn't leaving them entirely alone.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to T.A.G.! This is an experiment built to see if I can stick with a creative project until the very end. I'm planning on updating somewhat regularly, and hopefully I can make this thing fun enough to be able to see it all the way through.
> 
> This fic is inspired by 09Pyros_09Hydros' [To Live a Normal Life? How preposterous!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470704/chapters/25719414) T.A.G. won't be the exact same thing, but if you read both you can clearly see that there's some similarities. Hopefully the plans I have in store will make this a good read too!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For re-readers, you might notice that the tense changed. For new readers, you might sadly notice various mistakes regarding tense (feel free to point these out!). That's because I changed the tense of the first four chapters! Why? Present tense is easier for me to write but I didn't realize that until I wrote (and published) four chapters in past tense. I changed all this pretty late at night, so if there's mistakes... yeah. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the read regardless!

Karkat can't believe it. They won the game.

They did it. Everyone is alive (well, everyone that fought during the final fight), and the enemies are defeated. All that waits for them now is the new universe. Karkat looks around at everyone, at all the players that finally made this happen. There's tears that are shared and joyous cheers that cut through the noiseless blank space the platform hovers in. There's an overwhelming sense of happiness and Karkat can’t help but smile. He's never been any good at managing his expression, anyway.

Unlike a certain Strider. Karkat glances over at his matesprit- no, boyfriend, and sees the barely-contained grin on Dave’s face. Good. He deserves to be happy after all the bullshit that got thrown his way. Dave meets his gaze and Karkat quickly looks somewhere else to try to hide the fact that he was just staring at him. However, the feeling of a hand around his brings his gaze back to his boyfriend, and they share a smile. Both of them know they would have all the time in the universe to learn and grow with each other, and neither can wait.

Suddenly John calls out to the rest of the group. Karkat’s attention turns to the proper leader (since he knows no one else considers _him_ to be a leader), and the noise grows quiet. John stands in the middle of the group, his hands on his hips and his usual goofy grin on his face. Once he knows he has everyone’s attention, he pumps his fist and tells them that he's going to open the door. The cheers come back as John turns and approaches it. Karkat is tempted to join in, but he glances back over at Dave first.

The sight that greets him is a far cry from the smile they shared a second ago. Dave’s face is pale, his eyes wide under his shades, and his mouth is agape. Karkat frowns and tugs on his sleeve only to shout in surprise as his boyfriend suddenly launches himself at him. They stumble backwards, human and troll clutching each other, one frantic and one shocked. Before Karkat can ask what the hell was going on, a loud crack splits the air. The following silence is near deafening.

Ever so slowly, Dave peels himself away. The two lock eyes and Karkat slowly reaches out to pap Dave’s cheek. He's still pale but now slightly clammy with sweat, and the only response he gives to the troll’s questions is to mumble something about time being wrong. Around them, the group murmurs to each other and pulls out weapons. John quickly puts distance between himself and the door, if it can even be called that now.

The area where it used to be is now a pitch black hole in the shape of the door. It looks out of place, like it's something drawn, but it feels like so much more. It feels endless and far more empty than the void. Of course, Karkat can’t know that for sure considering he isn’t a void player, but he's learned to trust his instincts over the course of his life. He stares at it until his head starts to spin. It's barely been a few seconds, but he knows enough to look away and focus on something else for the time being. Beside him, Dave mentions that the hole has some weird effect on time. Jade adds by saying it's the same with space. However, she elaborates. She says that beyond any door, there’s space behind it. She could sense it with the door that was there before, albeit the space there was condensed and stretched so the group could travel to the new universe. This new hole is different. There's no space beyond it, and Dave mumbles to say that there isn’t time either.

However, Karkat doesn’t focus on what they're saying. Instead, he focuses on the large white letters that are now floating in the void above the platform. They first appeared to congratulate the group, back when everyone stumbled onto the platform beaten and bloody but alive. Now they say something different. One by one, everyone on the platform notices his gaze and looks up to see the message too. The words are no longer comforting. Now they send a chill down Karkat’s spine.

 

 **ADD-ON ACCEPTED!** ****  
**BOOTING POST-SBURB GAME**  
  
**PLEASE WAIT...**

 

Karkat stands perfectly still as he stares at it in disbelief. Around him he can hear gasps and angry shouts, but he's surprisingly calm. He really should’ve known this would happen. He's stupid for finally letting his guard down and believing he could be done with the game. Nothing good is ever going to happen to him, not as long as paradox space has some way of making his life worse. Dave squeezes his hand but Karkat doesn’t respond. He only watches the letters type themselves and feels the pit in his stomach deepen with each line.

 

 **RETRIEVING SBURB DATA** ****  
**RETRIEVING SGRUB DATA** ****  
**RETRIEVING ADDITIONAL PLAYERS** ****  
**RETRIEVING LEVELS FROM PLAYER MINDSCAPES** ****  
**CONSTRUCTING LEVELS** ****  
**CONSTRUCTING NPCS** ****  
**CONSTRUCTING TIERED SYSTEM** ****  
**CONSTRUCTING ENEMIES** ****  
**TESTING COMBAT AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS** ****  
**TESTING NPC AND PLAYER RELATIONSHIPS** ****  
**TESTING NPC AWARENESS AND COOPERATION** ****  
**TESTING TIER MOVEMENT AND COMMUNICATION** **  
** **INITIALIZING CORRUPTION SEQUENCE 38**

 

Hah. A corruption sequence. It isn’t surprising, not after all the hiccups during Sgrub. Something _always_ has to go wrong.

 

**START UP COMPLETE!**

Karkat feels Dave step backwards, so he absentmindedly rests his hand on his boyfriend’s back to stabilize him. Except he doesn’t feel anything. Karkat glances over with worry that Dave already fell, only to find that Dave isn’t there anymore. The rest of the group isn’t there either, and the platform is also gone. Instead it seems to be replaced by the same noiseless blank space the platform used to be in. Except, as Karkat looks around, he quickly realizes that the space around him is something else entirely. If Jade was right, he can't even call it space. It's that same spaceless and timeless not-void in the hole that replaced the door. Is he inside of it, or did the hole take over everything? Karkat finds that he can’t really care; he's already resigned to whatever fate this new game has in store for him. He only stares numbly ahead as the same white letters appear again.

 

 **WELCOME** **[KARKAT VANTAS]** **,** **[KNIGHT OF BLOOD]** **!**

 **YOUR STARTING TIER IS:** ****  
****  
**[ETERNUS]** ****  
****  
**YOUR SUPPORTING TIER IS:** ****  
****  
**[ERROR 403: ACCESS DENIED]** ****  
****  
**GOOD LUCK!**  


 

He doesn’t know what else he expected.


	2. Introductions and Conversations Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't expect to be updating this fic so soon but all the nice comments and kudos really encouraged me! I have projects I need to not procrastinate on this week so don't expect this sort of quick update for a while, buuut.. I hope you like this chapter! I know I certainly enjoyed writing the memo portions of it.

The thing about life after death is that it's simple. Frustrating, but simple. The dream bubbles never do what people want them to but at least it's easy enough just to wander. There's almost always new things to see or new people to meet. Though no one is exactly  _ new _ , they're just one version of someone in a sea of the same person. Depending the point of view, that can be irritating or extremely comforting. On one hand, someone may spend an infinitely long time searching for a specific version of someone else. On the other, it's easy to find yourself, and other versions of you can be surprisingly helpful. Especially to the recently deceased. It's always startling to find out that there's no more need for sleep or food.

Which is why Eridan is so surprised when he wakes up. When did he go to sleep? Why? Actually,  _ can _ he even sleep anymore? He hasn’t tried since he died. Either way, he figures that he should get up before someone sees him and thinks he's a recently dead version of himself. He doesn’t need to go through introductions again.

Eridan blinks his eyes open only to immediately shut them again when the light pierces them. “Fucking dammit,” he mumbles. His last memory is of him walking in a dark bubble, somewhere on Alternia. Either the bubbles shifted again or someone already saw him sleeping and moved him. Both of those options are terrible. He groans quietly and shifts his arm to rest it over his eyes. He can feel fabric around him shift and move, and he knows enough to know that he's in a human bed. Someone definitely moved him. Why did he have to fall asleep?

Bu there's no dwelling on it now. Eridan just has to get up, face whoever saw him, and get the fuck out of there. He can do that. He lifts his arm up slightly and opens his eyes again. Thankfully the shade his limb provides keeps the light from his eyes. He stays like that for a moment and half wishes that someone would see his struggle and get rid of the light already. Sadly, he's left to slowly sit up and let his eyes adjust instead. Maybe he’ll lecture whoever took him. That sounds wonderful.

When Eridan doesn't have to squint against the light anymore, he looks around the room he woke up in. Its spacious layout and the violet-colored walls immediately makes him think that some version of himself or Cronus lives here. Or lived here, since that's how the dream bubbles work. Then he remembers that he's sitting on a bed and comes to the conclusion that it must be some weird version of Rose’s room. There's no yarn in sight, but there's plenty of books. Carefully hung on the walls are posters featuring some play. He doesn’t feel like reading the words, but he knows just from the pictures that they're all about some revolution. He-

Oh, wait. He can see. Eridan reaches up to touch his face and sure enough, he slept in his glasses. How did that not hurt? Whatever, it's dream bubble stuff. He puts his hand back down without looking at it and resumes his examination of the room. The furniture includes a fancy desk, some fancy bookshelves, a fancy bed, more exceedingly fancy furniture, and also the bane of Eridan’s existence right now. Covering almost the entirely of one wall is a giant set of windows. The curtains are neatly drawn to the sides in a way that would normally be elegant but is instead incredibly frustrating. Eridan gets up and marches across the room to tug them closed. Now that his room is bathed in darkness he takes a moment to blink his eyes and let them adjust to the sudden loss of light. However, that process takes far longer than he's used to. Eridan grumbles to himself and rubs his eyes as he stumbles through the shadowed room. He's going to flip his shit if his eyes fail him now. First he wakes up in a different place, and now his eyes are weird? What's going to happen next?

That question quickly gets an answer. Once Eridan’s eyes fully adjust, he looks around and finds a mirror. He's at least going to fix himself up before he faces whoever brought him here. He approaches it, finding himself squinting slightly despite the fact that trolls should be able to see in the dark, and stares into the reflective glass. The person staring back at him makes him shriek and stumble back in surprise. In front of him is a young human wearing his same shocked expression. The skinny body, soft pale skin, and brightly colored pajamas practically mocks him. Eridan quickly glances towards the door to make sure no one heard him before he leans towards the mirror to examine himself. A light dusting of freckles coveres his cheeks and nose, and blond curly hair frames his face. Thankfully he still has his violet streak, but he can’t help but notice the most glaring discrepancy. He doesn’t have his horns. He stares at himself with wide eyes as he realizes that his head  _ is _ feeling lighter than normal. Fuck, why didn’t he notice that something was wrong sooner?

The dull thud of footsteps outside his door almost makes Eridan jump. He whips his head around to look for a weapon and eventually grabs a bottle of hair gel sitting in front of the mirror. He turns, his hand clutching the bottle tightly, and tries to make himself sound confident. He is  _ not _ going to seem scared. “Fuck off!”

The footsteps stop and Eridan waits impatiently for a response. Then the handle to his door turns and he silently curses. Why didn’t he think to lock it? Eridan feels a pit form in his stomach as the door silently opens. He holds the bottle at arm’s length as the light from the hallway cut through the dark of his bedroom. Then a human steps out to look at him, pale like Eridan. His dyed black hair is slicked back and he has on a leather jacket, but most startlingly of all, he looks just like Cronus. Eridan slowly lowers his arm, too surprised by the identity of the guest to worry about defending himself.

Cronus raises an eyebrow at his brother’s defensive position. “What’s got you so worked up?” he asks.

Eridan finds himself too stunned to answer properly. To his utter shame, he only mumbles “I. Uh. Cronus?”

The other teen glances over his shoulder as if someone else is in the room before he replies. “That’s me. Did something happen?”

Eridan’s brows furrow in confusion. What didn’t happen? “Can you really not tell?”

“I got nothing.”

“What about our horns? What about our fins? We’re  _ humans_."

Cronus stares blankly at Eridan for a moment. Then he bursts into laughter and almost doubles over from the force of it. Eridan’s crossed arms and unamused glower only makes him laugh harder, and it's a long time before he can speak again. “Are you shitting me,” he snickers. “Seriously? I came running up here ‘cause I heard your scream and all I get is some weird dream you had?”

If he were still a troll, Eridan would be growling with irritation. It feels weird to talk without his usual subvocals. “It wasn’t a dream! Do you seriously not remember Sgrub?”

Cronus is still laughing slightly. “The hell was that word that just came out of your mouth? No, I don’t remember it. ‘Humans’ don’t share dreams, chief.”

“Oh, fuck off. I know you’re just playing a trick on me.”

“Funny, ‘cause _I_ don’t even know that.”

“Then how do you explain me waking up here?”

Cronus gives him an incredulous look. “Are you serious?”

“Deathly.”

“That dream really fucked you up, didn’t it?” muses Cronus. “This is your bedroom.”

“My respiteblock.”

“Your what now?”

Eridan groans and runs a hand over his face. “Don’t try to play dumb with me.”

His brother shrugs and glances towards the door. “I’m not trying to. Just,” he hesitates for a moment. “Just come downstairs whenever you’re over this, okay? Dad’s got breakfast going.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Cronus looks at Eridan like he's expecting something else. Eventually it becomes clear that there's no other response, so he shrugs again and leaves the room. Eridan waits for a moment before dashing forward to close the door. What the fuck was that about? Cronus seemed genuinely confused about the questions, but he has to know. He has to, right? Eridan turns to look at himself in the mirror, now taking note of the pupils in his eyes. He isn't dead. But what if it's true and Cronus doesn’t even remember? No, it can’t be, there would be memories of  _ something _ before the game. Eridan reaches up to feel where his horns would be but only gets a handful of hair. Whatever's happening, he's going to find out. For now he’ll play cool.

He takes a deep breath and straightens himself up. He looks around and, finding a light switch, reaches over to flip the lights on. He hisses as the light cuts into his vision again and he sets the bottle of hair gel down while he waits for his eyes to adjust. Then he looks for some sort of place a human version of him would put his clothes. Once he finds the closet he put on only the best outfit he can find and leaves his pajamas in a pile. From there, Eridan retrieves the hair gel and goes over to the mirror to shape his hair into its usual style. When he's satisfied he switches the light off, opens his door, and steps out into the hallway.

He only spares a glance at some of the lavish paintings hung on the walls as he strides down the corridor. He keeps his posture straight and his gait purposeful to try to hide the fact that he has no idea where he's going. Eridan eventually comes across a large staircase and, remembering what Cronus said about going downstairs, he lifts his chin in mock confidence to walk down them. He hasn't forgotten Cronus’ mention of a father. Either seahorse dad is here or someone far worse is, and given that he's currently a human, Eridan guesses that it's the latter. He just has to hope that this version of Dualscar also doesn’t remember Alternia.

Once he's at the bottom of the stairs, it's easy to smell what he assumes to be the usual scent of breakfast. Eridan wishes he doesn’t have a human’s lackluster nose, but he supposes it isn't too much of a disadvantage if the other two have it as well. He can also hear the soft sounds of plates being set on a table, and as he ventures closer to the source, he also hears some sort of meat sizzling and a quiet conversation.

Eridan walks into the kitchen to find Dualscar lifting a pan with small strips of meat off the stove. He's a tall broad-shouldered man, blond hair slicked back much like Eridan’s now is. Cronus talks quietly from where he's putting the last plate down on the table and the adult hums something in response. However, as soon as the other teen sees Eridan, the words stop flowing. Dualscar turns, looks at his younger son, and strolls towards the table. The twin scars on his face are now visible. Silence fills the room; only the sounds of the meat strips hitting the plates disrupts it. They're called bacon, right?

“I heard you had a bad dream,” ventured D- Eridan’s father. Fuck, he’ll have to call him that if he wants to play cool. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Suffice to say, Eridan has no idea what to say. It isn’t just the question that catches him off guard but his ‘dad’ too. Dualscar is a supposedly epic orphaner and pirate. He's known for his brutality and merciless ways, and that’s what makes him such a good orphaner. But this adult is no killer. That still doesn’t stop the instinctive fear of adults that Eridan feels, but maybe it's good to be afraid. There might be some part of human culture he has yet to know about.

“Are you okay?” Oh fuck, Dualscar is staring at him. Apparently Eridan thought for too long.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answers. “It was just a dream.”

Cronus gives him a look, but doesn’t say anything as he moves to retrieve a different pan. Inside it is some sort of yellow mush that Eridan has heard people call eggs before. That doesn’t look like any egg to him, but who knows? The species on Earth might be vastly different from those on Alternia. He watches his dancestor-  _ brother _ (that should be the right word for him) set the eggs down on each plate. Dualscar sets the bacon pan in the sink and sits down at the head of the table. There's two plates left, one on each side of the table, and Eridan hesitates for only a moment before sitting down at one of them. Cronus sets his pan back on the unheated side of the stove and sits down across from his brother.

Normally there might be some sort of conversation, or at least Eridan guesses there might be, but there's none today. Maybe that's his fault, but what else is he supposed to do? He sighs, but quickly stops when he sees his father glance at him. Careful not to draw any more attention, Eridan picks up his fork and tries to remember the sensation of eating. He's been dead so long he almost forgot it, but now that he’s probably alive he’s going to have to get used to it again. Luckily, a tentative bite of egg is all it takes for him to remember. As he starts eating at a more proper pace, he can’t help but notice Cronus on his phone in front of him. Maybe that's a normal thing during human mealtimes? However, given the look Dualscar is now directing towards his other son, that's probably not the case.

At least he isn’t looking at Eridan. In fact, now that he's eating again, he finds that he grows more comfortable with the people at the table. Not _that_ comfortable considering that there's an adult right next to him, but it's still something. Dualscar clears his throat, still staring at Cronus, but the other ignores him in favor texting. Eventually the man sighs and reaches over to pull the Cronus’ phone from his grasp. Cronus gasps and tries to reach for his phone, but Dualscar places it in his pocket where he can’t reach.

“Hey, I wasn’t done!” he exclaims. His father rolls his eyes.

“You know better than to text at the table,” chastises Dualscar. “This is a  _ family _ breakfast.”

“It was important!”

“Oh really? What’s more important than me?”

Cronus crosses his arms and lookes away. “I was telling someone about Eridan’s dream”, he says. That asshole. “He said he had something similar and I was asking him about it.” 

Wait, what? Eridan perks up, interested in hearing who it is, but Dualscar speaks before he can.

“You could’ve saved that until afterwards.”, he says. “I’m tempted to make you do the dishes with me.”

“At least there aren’t that many,” Cronus grumbles, but his father hears.

“For the week.”

“What!? No!”

“I’ll make you do it for the next month.”

Eridan almost laughs at his brother’s mutinous expression, but he manages to reign it in. He's determined to look serious. “Hey, Cro?”

Cronus glances over at him. “Yeah?”

“It seems kind of weird that someone else had the same, uh,  _ dream _ as me. What’s his name?”

His brother stares at him for a long moment before getting a knowing look on his face. “Mituna. I’d send you his pesterchum handle, but Dad has my phone.”

Pesterchum, not Trollian? Interesting. “You could just tell me. I have a good memory.”

Cronus barks out a laugh. “You have a shit memory, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. He’s technophilicAnnulment. If you have trouble remembering, you can always ask one of his brothers for it. I know you have their handles already.”

Eridan nods and repeats the handle in his head. If his brother is right, he doesn’t want to risk forgetting it due to inherited bad memory. Human bodies suck enough already. He watches the two others at the table resume eating and does the same, all the while thinking about what he's going to say. Is he just going to march into Mituna’s pesterchum demanding answers? No, what if Mituna is just pretending? But why would he pretend to Cronus? Actually, has Eridan met him before? Would that lead to some clue as to how to go about broaching the question? He doesn’t know, but ultimately all of these questions pale in comparison to the sudden overwhelming need to speak to Mituna. This is his chance to try to get answers. Eridan doesn’t even know where his phone is, but he thinks he saw a husktop back in his room. Or is it a computer? Considering he's currently human, it's probably a computer.

Eridan can’t finish his meal soon enough. The other two aren’t done yet but since they're probably doing the dishes, he assumes that it's okay to quietly excuse himself. He leaves without hassle and, once he's out of sight, he practically runs back to his room. It's no trouble to get back rush straight to his computer. He frantically searches for some sort of power button, finds it, and falls into his seat. Then he realizes that he needs a password.

What the fuck kind of password would a human version of him even have? He sits in front of the screen, hands hovering over the keyboard, and waits for any sort of idea to come to him. It's possible it might have something to do with Feferi, but Eridan doesn’t even know if she exists here. What if it was created a while ago, back when he was obsessed with obviously fake magic? Did this human version of him even have a magic faze? He doesn’t know for sure and he doesn’t have any idea how many tries he has before something happens to his computer. He ponders for another moment and an idea quickly appears. He pushes away from the desk and looks at it as a whole. It has four drawers. Eridan opens one of them and, low and behold, inside he finds a password book. From there it 's easy to find the password (it _does_ have something to do with magic), enter it, and open up pesterchum. He types Mituna’s handle in, hopes he remembered it correctly, and sends a message.

\-- caligulasAquarium [CA] began pestering technophilicAnnulment [TA] at 09:28 --

CA: hey  
TA: 4ND WH0 7H3 FUCK 15 7H15  
CA: eridan  
TA: 0H 5H17 Y0U’R3 CR0NU55 D4NC3570R  
CA: so you knoww him  
TA: WH47 K1ND 0F 1D107H D0 Y0U 74K3 M3 F0R 0F C0UR53 1 KN0KW H1M  
CA: cool  
CA: also  
CA: you said dancestor  
CA: not brother  
TA: UH Y34H  
TA: 1 D1D 7H47 F0R 4 FUCK1NG R3450N  
CA: and wwhat reason is that  
TA: W3 W3R3 7H4LK1NG 480U7 4 DR34M Y0U H4D  
CA: yeah  
CA: if you can call it that  
TA: D0 Y0U R3M3M83R 50M37H1NG C4LL3D 5GRU8  
CA: yeah  
TA: D0 Y0U R3M3M83R H4V1NG H0RN5  
CA: fuck yeah i do  
TA: 4ND D035 17 F33L 50 R34L 7H47 Y0U 5DW34R 17H 15N’7 4 DR34M?  
CA: that isnt evven a question its a fact  
CA: is it the same wwith you  
TA: YUP  
CA: wwell shit then  
CA: cro mentioned you havve brothers  
TA: M4L3 H47CHM47H3S R1GH7  
CA: yeah i guess so  
CA: but that also includes your dancestor  
TA: 1 D0 H4V3 MY D4NC3570R 8U7 1 4L50 H4V3 7HW0 07H3R W31RD05 7H47 MY D4NC3570R C4LL5 MY 8R07H3R5  
CA: wwait seriously  
CA: i think i only havve my dancestor an my  
CA: uh  
TA: Y0UR WH47  
CA: my ancestor is here too  
TA: 0H FUCCK  
CA: yeah  
TA: BU7 7H47’5 W0R53 F0R 4L73RN14N 7R0LL5 R1GH7?  
CA: it is  
CA: theyre vvery likely to kill you  
TA: FUCK  
TA: 47 L3457 7H3R3 15N’7 4N 4NC357H0R 4T MY H1V3  
CA: yeah  
CA: anywway  
CA: do any a your so called brothers remember the game or is it just us  
TA: 1 H4V3 N0 1D34. 1’V3 0NLY 74LK3D 70 MY D4NC357H0R 4ND H3 D037HN’7 R3M3M83R  
CA: you knoww its okay to call him sollux  
TA: 0H 5H17 1 F0RG07 H15 N4M3  
CA: wwoww  
TA: D0N’7 73LL H1M  
CA: i probably wwont  
TA: G00D  
TA: 4NYW4Y 1 D0N’7 KN0W 1F MY 51573R5 KN0W 317H3R 8U7 1M N07 L34V1NG MY R35P1738L0VCK 4NY 71M3 500N  
CA: wwait wwhat  
CA: sisters  
TA: Y34H 4PP4R3N7LY 7H15 H1V3 15 JU5T 4 CLU5TH3RFUCK 0F 7R0LL5 7H47 4R3N7H 7R0LL5 4NYM0R3  
TA: 1 7HINK 7H3R35 51X 0F U5 H3R3  
CA: holy shit  
CA: do you knoww wwho any a them are  
TA: N0  
TA: 4ND 1 D0N’7 PL4N 7H0 KN0W  
CA: but wwhat if you havve to  
TA: I D0N’T  
CA: howw else are you gonna see if they remember the game  
TA: 1’LL JU5T M3554GE 7H3M  
CA: wwithout evven knowwin wwho they are  
TA: FYCK1NHG D4MN17  
CA: yeah  
TA: I D0M’7 W4N7H 70 L34V3  
CA: but think about it  
CA: the sooner wwe knoww the sooner wwe can find a wway out of wwhatever mess wwevve gotten ourselvves into  
CA: because the more people wwe havve in on this the better plans wwe can make  
TA: Y0U’R3 M4K1NFG T00 MUCH 53N53. 570P U17  
CA: nah  
TA: H0LD Y0UR 7H17H5  
CA: my wwhat  
CA: uh  
CA: mituna  
CA: wwhat are you doin  
CA: are you leavvin your respiteblock  
CA: i hope so  
CA: its been a wwhile  
CA: ...  
CA: mituna  
CA: can i call you mit  
CA: quick question  
CA: wwhy does your handle havve the same abbrevviation as sols  
CA: thats gonna get confusin real fast  
CA: ...  
CA: also i think i remember talkin to you in the dream bubbles noww that i think about it  
CA: didnt realize it before but im pretty sure i talked to sols dancestor  
CA: wwhich is you  
CA: but then again youre  
CA: calmer  
CA: than wwhen i last talked to you  
CA: i dunno  
CA: i dont knoww if thats a human thin or a bad sign  
CA: maybe both  
CA: ...  
CA: okay wwhere the fuck are you

\-- technophilicAnnulment [TA] ceased pestering caligulasAquarium [CA] at 09:52 --

CA: wwhat the fuck

technophilicAnnulment [TA] opened a private memo on board F0UMND 0N3  
TA: SUP N3RD5  
caligulasAquarium [CA] responded to memo  
CA: okay wwhat the fuck is this  
carcinoGeneticist [CG] responded to memo  
CG: OH YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME.  
CA: kar  
CG: HI, ASSHOLE.  
CA: holy shit  
TA: W3LC0M3 70 7H3 804RD F0R 7H3 0NLY NJ07 7HR0LL5 0N 7H15 PL4N37 7H47 KN0W 480U7 7H3 G4M3  
CG: WE CAN NOT BE THE ONLY ONES.  
CA: wwe actually might be  
TA: D4MN 7H475 4 L07 0F 7HYP1NG  
TA: D035 7H15 U5U4LLY H4PP3N  
CA: yeah  
CA: this is gonna be somethin  
CG: NO, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS BULLSHIT. I **REFUSE**. I DID NOT FIGHT THROUGH AN ENTIRE DEATH GAUNTLET JUST TO LAND IN A WORLD WHERE ONLY THREE OF US REMEMBER JACK SHIT. I DID NOT ASK FOR SOME SORT OF SHITTY ““POST-SBURB GAME”” TO COME IN AND WRECK MY SHIT. I WORKED SO HARD TO BUILT IT UP BUT THEN THIS WRIGGLER OF A PRIZE CAME AND KNOCKED DOWN ALL MY HARD WORK. THE VERY LEAST IT COULD DO IS HAVE US ALL REMEMBER??? BUT NOPE! STUPID DUMBFUCKING DOUCHEBAGGERY ““““CORRUPTION SEQUENCE””””. WHO IN THEIR ABSOLUTE RIGHT THINK PAN MADE THIS FOOLISHNESS? ACTUALLY I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I CAN CALL IT A THINK PAN ANYMORE BECAUSE I’M ***HUMAN***! I’D LIKE TO MAKE A FUCKING COMPLAINT.  
CA: i think you just did  
CG: OH, I HAVE A LOT MORE TO SAY. I HAVE AN ENTIRE TEN PAGES WORTH OF SCREAMING TO DO. THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF MY RAGE.  
CA: please no  
CA: i like your rants as much as the next guy  
CA: but wwe need to figure out a plan  
CG: I DISLIKE THE FACT THAT YOU’RE CUTTING ME OFF BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, FINALLY, SOME COMMON SENSE.  
TA: 8Y 7H3 W4Y 1 F0UND 0U7 WH0 MY 8R07H3R5 4ND 5157H3R5 4R3  
CA: oh nice  
CG: YEAH, IT’S QUITE THE CLUSTERFUCK.  
CG: BUT LET’S MAKE THIS EASY AND NOT LIST ALL OF THE NAMES.  
TA: W3 G07 7H3 C4P7H0R5 (L1K3 M3 H3H) 7H3 V4N7455 4ND 7H3 L31J0N5  
CA: are you serious  
CG: HE’S SERIOUS.  
TA: 4L50 1 F0UND 0U7 7H47 1 W45 WR0NG 480U7 7H3 4NC3570R 7H1NG  
CA: wwait  
CA: you mean that theres an ancestor there  
CG: MORE THAN ONE. WE HAVE THE SIGNLESS, DISCIPLE, AND THE PSIONIC ALL IN THIS HIVE TOO.  
CA: howw are you twwo evven still alivve  
CG: I HAVE NO IDEA. I’VE BEEN AVOIDING THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.  
TA: 1 G07 57H0PP3D 8Y 7H3M 1N 7H3 H4LLW4Y  
CA: an youre still alivve  
TA: 17 W45 UNC0MFY0R748L3 8U7H M057LY 83C4U53 1 H4V3N'7 R34LLY 533N 4N 4DUL7 83F0R3 4ND 4L50 7H3Y W3R3 831NG R334LLY P4L3  
CA: like  
CA: towwards you  
CG: YES, TOWARDS HIM.  
CA: thats fucked up  
CG: IT IS. BUT AS THE RESIDENT HUMAN EXPERT, I KNOW IT’S JUST THEIR WAY OF DOING SHIT. THEY’RE ACTING AS OUR LUSI AND THAT’S JUST HOW HUMAN LUSI TAKE CARE OF THEIR CHARGES.  
CA: actually speakin of humans  
CA: i forgot to ask if you twwo are humans  
CG: SADLY, YES.  
TA: Y34H  
TA: 8U7 1 4L50 541D 7H47 47 7H3 7H0P 0F 7H15 M3M0, FUCK3R  
CG: I ALSO MENTIONED IT IN MY RANT, FUCKER.  
CA: oh shit youre right  
TA: 5UCK MY FUCK1NG BULG3 D4MN R1GH7 W3R3 R1GHTH  
CA: theres really no need for that  
CG: ANYWAY SO WHAT’S OUR FUCKING PLAN?  
CA: wwait hold on i forgot one other thin  
CG: GOGDAMNIT.  
CA: so  
CA: human dualscar is in my hivve  
CG: OH SHIT, DUALSCAR. MINE, SOLLUX’S, AND NEPETA’S ANCESTORS WERE AT LEAST PROBABLY NICE BACK ON ALTERNIA.  
CA: yeah  
CG: I FORGOT THAT THE HIGHER ANCESTORS WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO DO SOME BAD SHIT.  
CA: mhm  
CG: DID HE HURT YOU AT ALL? DO I NEED TO GO KICK SOME ASS?  
CA: oh  
TA: 4WW  
CA: wwould you actually go up against a full growwn former violetblood for me  
CG: SHUT UP. DID HE? DO I?  
CA: nah im good  
CA: i wwouldnt havve forgotten if he hurt me  
CG: THAT DOES MAKE SENSE.  
CG: BUT DID HE INTIMIDATE YOU?  
CA: his vvery presence did but did he actually do anythin  
CA: nope  
CA: he evven asked if i wwas okay  
CA: since i wwas spacin out for a second there  
CG: HUH.  
TA: 7H475 4C7HU4LLY 4D0R48L3  
CA: shut up  
CG: THAT’S ACTUALLY GOOD NEWS.  
CA: wwhat is  
CG: THE FACT THAT HE IS ALSO UNDER THE SPELL OF HUMAN PALENESS.  
CA: howw is that good  
CG: WE ALREADY HAVE CONFIRMATION OF FOUR ANCESTORS LIVING ON THIS PLANET, AND ALL OF THEM ARE HUMAN. WHAT’S TO SAY THAT THERE AREN’T MORE ANCESTORS TURNED HUMAN?  
CA: wwhere are you gonna go wwith this  
CG: THERE’S A VERY GOOD CHANCE THAT THE CONDESCE IS HERE AS A HUMAN, AND THAT HER HUMANITY IS KEEPING HER PLACID.  
CA: but that means theres still a condesce here  
CG: BUT THAT ALSO MEANS SHE ISN’T ANYWHERE ELSE.  
CA: oh  
CA: an her bein here as a human means that theres no troll empress wwith some alternia somewwhere else  
CG: EXACTLY. AT THE VERY LEAST, IF WE CAN’T ESCAPE THIS BULLSHIT OF A GAME AFTER A GAME, WE CAN AT LEAST TRY TO FIND THIS GAME’S VERSION OF ALTERNIA. HOPEFULLY WE’D HAVE NO EMPRESS TO ATTACK US AND A WHOLE PLANET TO RECOUP AND FIGURE THINGS OUT.  
CA: thats actually a good idea  
CG: YOU SAY THAT LIKE YOU’RE SURPRISED. I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW I AM FULL OF GOOD IDEAS.  
CA: i dont doubt it  
CG: HEY.  
CA: hey  
CG: IT’S BEEN THREE MINUTES SINCE YOU SAID “I DON’T DOUBT IT”.  
CA: yeah  
CA: wwheres mit  
CA: he should a said somethin by noww  
CG: MIT?  
CA: mituna  
CG: OF COURSE. YOU AND YOUR NICKNAMES.  
CA: i like to call them abbrevviations  
CG: CALL THEM WHATEVER YOU WANT, MITUNA STILL ISN’T HERE.  
CA: is somethin happenin ovver there  
CG: NOTHING. MITUNA HASN’T LEFT HIS RESPITEBLOCK.  
CA: can you go an check  
CG: I’M OUTSIDE HIS DOOR RIGHT NOW. I HEAR HIM TALKING TO SOLLUX.  
CA: wwell fuckin knock  
CA: uh  
CA: kar  
CA: its been a feww minutes  
CA: are you okay  
CA: fuck  
CA: wwhere evven are you twwo  
CA: guys  
TA: 50RRY A80U7 7H47H 1 H4D 4 7H1NG 70 D0  
CA: wwheres kar  
TA: D1D H3 L34V3  
CA: he wwas gonna to knock to see if you wwere okay but then he stopped respondin  
TA: JU57 C4UGH7H UP 4ND 1 533 7H47  
TA: H0LD 0N  
CA: fuck okay  
TA: N0P3 1M N07 G01NG 0U7 7H3R3  
CA: wwhy not wwhats happenin  
TA: 7H3 4DUL7H5 4R3 74LK1NG T0 H1M  
CA: fuck  
TA: H3LL 83 4LR1GH7  
CA: hopefully  
CA: anywway  
TA: 4NYW4Y  
CA: oh  
TA: 5H17  
CA: do you wwant to go first  
TA: N0  
CA: okay  
CA: wwell  
CA: i cant help but notice that youvve been  
CA: calmer  
CA: i dont really knoww wwhat other wword to use for it  
TA: 1V3 N071C3D 7H47 700  
CA: you havve  
TA: 7H475 P4R7H 0F WHY 1 L3F7  
CA: because you wwere too calm  
TA: Y34H 1 W4N73D 70 45K 50LLUX 480U7 17 4ND 17 7URN3D 1N70 4 WH0L3 7H1NG  
CA: do you think you bein calmer is a human thin  
TA: B453D 0N 7H3 C0NV3R510N 1M PR377Y 5UR3 B31NG C4LM L1K3 7H47H 15N7 4 HUM4N 7H1NG  
CA: convversion  
TA: 5H17  
TA: C0NV3R547H10N  
CA: oh  
CA: so wwhat do you mean  
CG: I’M BACK, WHAT DID I MISS?  
TA: H1  
TA: 1LL 3XPL41N 17 L473R  
CG: EXPLAIN WHAT?  
CA: he wwas talkin to me  
CG: YEAH, I JUST READ WHAT I MISSED AND NOTICED THAT.  
TA: 4C7U4LLY Y34H 1 7H1NK C4LM 15N7 7H3 R1GH7 W0RD  
TA: M4YB3 84L4NC3D?  
CG: I HAVEN’T REALLY TALKED MUCH TO YOU SO I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M MISSING IF ANYTHING, BUT WHATEVER’S HAPPENING  
CG: GOG FUCKING DAMNIT.  
CA: that wwas gettin pretty close to pale there kar  
CG: YEAH I KNOW, THAT’S WHY I STOPPED MYSELF!  
TA: H3H  
TA: 1 G37 17 7H0UGH  
CG: GOOD.  
TA: 4NYW4Y 1 H4V3 50M3 3XC171NG N3W5 7H47 15 7H3 07H3R H4LF 0F WHY 1 L3F7  
CA: oh really  
CG: WHAT IS IT?  
TA: 1 W45 74LK1NG 70 50M30N3  
CG: AND?  
causticCondescension [CC] responded to memo  
CC: sup beaches  
CG: WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?  
CA: wwait that handle abbrevviation is fefs but that handle isnt  
CA: is that meenah  
CC: shore is  
CA: shit does evvery dancestor havve the same abbrevviation as their dancestor  
CA: that wwas wworded wweirdly but still  
CG: WELL SHIT.  
CA: thats wweird  
TA: 5H3 541D 7H47H CR0NU5 W4N73D 70 FL1R7 W17H H3R 50 H3 8R0K3 7H3 1C3 8Y 7H4LK1NG 480U7 3R1D4N5 DR34M  
CG: “DREAM”.  
CA: i  
CA: oh come on is he gonna tell evverybody he knowws  
CC: probubbley  
CA: cod damnit  
CG: AND THERE GO THE PUNS AGAIN.  
CC: buoy you shoald know i LIV-E for puns  
CG: I WAS TALKING ABOUT ERIDAN. HE NEVER USES THEM UNLESS HE’S IN THE SAME CHAT AS FEFERI. AND APPARENTLY YOU.  
CA: kar wwhat the fuck  
CA: i dont do that  
CC: isnt that sweet  
TA: H4H4H H0LY 5H17H  
CA: fuck off i dont do it  
CC: as fun as it is talkin aboat when eridan does and doesnt pun i want to make sure i have names right  
CC: grey shouty is karcrab  
CG: FUCK YOU, WHY DOES EVERYONE KNOW ME AS THE SHOUTING TROLL?  
CA: because you are the shoutin troll  
CC: purple fucker is eridan  
CA: yup  
CC: and i already know mituna  
TA: W3LL 1 KN0W Y0U 700  
CC: yeah thats how it works  
CG: ANYWAY, I’M GUESSING YOU KNOW ABOUT SGRUB AND OUR HUMAN SITUATION TOO?  
CC: too well  
CC: by the wave eridan fuck you  
CA: excuse me  
CC: i tried messagin to you as soon as cronus told me about that dream of yours but you didnt respond  
CA: i  
CA: wwhat  
CA: i didnt evven notice  
CC: yeah i bet you didnt  
CC: luckily cronus was happy to tell me who you went to talk to  
CC: aka tuna  
CG: ERIDAN, I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU.  
CA: wwhat  
TA: 0H SN4P  
CG: “OH SNAP” IS RIGHT. HOW LONG HAVE I KNOWN YOU? AND NEVER HAVE YOU MISSED A MESSAGE.  
CG: FOR FUCKING SHAME.  
CA: uh kar  
CG: WHAT IS IT?  
CA: i dont havve any messages from meenah  
CC: are you shore you want to be accusin M-E of lyin  
CA: im not tryin to accuse you a anythin  
CA: but theres nothin here  
CA: did you make a mistake  
CC: i know for a fact i messaged caligulasAquarium  
CC: which is you  
CA: look im not sayin that you didnt but  
CA: i literally havve nothin here

Eridan clicks away from the memo board he's spent the last few minutes on. Actually, hold on, that's a lot more than a few minutes. He glances at the clock on his computer screen and sees that it's already more than an hour later. That's… actually not that bad, considering the lengthy conversations he used to have before and during the game. But anyway, he has a point to prove. He searches Meenah’s username and messages her. Sure enough, there's no messages above his. Either pesterchum is glitched or he's right. A second later the memo goes off and he clicks back to it.

CG: YOU BETTER NOT BE LYING.  
CC: he isnt  
CG: WHAT?  
TA: WH47  
CA: damn right im not  
CG: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?  
CC: he just messaged me and its a completely different window than when i first messaged him  
CC: and im looking at both of them and they both have the same handle  
TA: P3573RCHUM 15N7 5UPP053D 7H0 83 48L3 70 D0 7H47  
CC: no shit  
CG: CAN YOU GIVE US A SCREENSHOT?  
CC: yeah hold on  
CA: wwait  
CA: is this somethin like wwhen wwe used to havve convversations wwith our past and future selvves  
CA: but wwithout the past and present selvves  
CA: and wwith somethin to do wwith this alternate game thin  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?  
CA: i dont knoww about any a you guys but cro and dualscar havve been treatin me like i wwas alwways here evven tho i havvent been  
CA: so i think that implies that i took some vversion of mes place  
CG: YOU THINK MEENAH MESSAGED THE YOU THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE HERE INSTEAD OF THE YOU THAT IS?  
CA: i dont knoww but its a theory  
CC: im back and heres a link  
CG: THANK YOU.  
CC: you know eridan that might actually be plausible  
CA: im glad i can livve up to your standards  
CC: buoy  
CA: that wwas supposed to be sarcastic  
CC: im not talkin to you im talkin to the buoy thats hackin my shit  
CG: MITUNA?  
TA: 7H15 5H17 15 W31RD  
CC: why the fuck you hackin  
TA: 1M 7RY1NG 70 F1ND 0U7 WH3R3 7H3 F4L53 3R1D4N Y0U M3554G3D 15 4ND 7H3 R35UL7H5 4R3  
TA: W31RD  
CA: howw so  
CG: PLEASE EXPLAIN.  
TA: 50 0N3 0F 7H3 3R1D4N5 H45 4 N0RM4L 1P 4DR355 4ND 1 JU57 C0NF1RM3D 7H47 175 0UR 3R1D4N5  
CA: wwoww thanks for hackin into my husk  
CA: uh  
CA: computer  
TA: 1M N07 3V3N H4CK1NG 1N70 Y0UR C0MPU73R 1M JU57  
TA: 4C7U4LLY L37 M3 5K1P 7H47 83C4U53 Y0U W0ULDN7 UND3R574ND 4NYW4Y  
CA: rude  
CG: BUT UNDERSTANDABLE.  
TA: 50 7H3 F4K3 3R1D4N5 1P 4DDR355 15 4C7U4LLY N07 4N 1P 4DR355  
CC: im pretty sure that isnt supposed to work that wave  
CG: I UNDERSTAND JACK SHIT ABOUT HUSKTOPS AND I KNOW EVEN LESS ABOUT COMPUTERS BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT ISN’T RIGHT.  
TA: 1 D0N7 3V3N KN0W H0W 70 D35CR183 17 175 JU57 N07 R1GH7  
TA: 4R3 Y0U FFGUCK1NG K1DD1NG M3 WH17H 7H15 8UL5HY17  
CG: WOAH HOLD ON, CALM DOWN.  
CC: thats pale as shit  
TA: 17 R344LLY 15  
CG: EXCUSE YOU! I’M JUST BEING A GOOD FRIEND.  
TA: 3V3RY0N3 H0LD Y0UR 717H5 1M G01NG 70 5D33 1F 1 C4N F1ND 0U7 WH3R3 H3 15 4N0Y7H3R W4Y  
CA: to be honest its surprisin that he got this far wwithout typos  
CA: in the brief time i kneww him he seemed the type to alwways be makin typos  
CC: he is  
CG: OKAY, LET’S STOP SPREADING RUMORS HERE.  
CA: literally no rumors are bein spread im just thinkin shit out loud  
CC: by the way i read above where i came in to the memo  
CC: and that shit aboat tuna is interesting  
CC: we shoald ask him what he was savin to talk aboat later  
CG: CAN YOU FUCKING STOP? HE DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW.  
CC: pale much  
CG: EXCUSE ME??  
CG: CAN I STOP BEING ACCUSED OF PALE ADVANCES ALREADY!?  
CC: only when you stop actin pale  
CA: oh shit  
CG: FUCK YOU.  
CC: you couldnt handle it  
CA: nice  
CC: thanks  
CA: ...  
CC: okay are people goin to make a halibut outta disappearin cause if so i dont like it  
CA: at least mit told us he wwas gonna do other shit before he left and kar didnt officially leavve the memo  
CC: you and i both know that not officially leavin means jack shit  
CA: yeah  
CC: anywave  
CC: whats up with you  
CA: wwhy are you interested all of a sudden  
CC: im bored and i barely know you  
CA: fair  
CA: but i only have the usual stuff up with me  
CC: you mean the human fin goin on  
CA: yup  
CA: actually i think wwe wwere supposed to ask you a question  
CC: about my ancestor  
CC: or rather feferis ancestor cause mine is a little beach and not here  
CA: yeah  
CC: id say that shes fin but  
CC: i dont know  
CC: im good at judgin shady character by now and she just has somefin about her  
CC: somefin fishy  
CA: shit  
CA: can you keep an eye on her for us  
CC: thats what i was goin to do anywave  
CA: good  
CG: HEY IDIOTS.  
CC: took you long enough  
CA: wwhat happened this time  
CG: WAIT, BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING, IS MITUNA STILL HERE?  
TA: Y34H 1M 57H1LL H3R3  
CG: GOOD. YOU’RE THE CREATOR OF THE MEMO AND IT’S PRIVATE SO I’LL HAVE TO ASK YOU TO INVITE TWO PEOPLE.  
TA: G1MM3 7H31R H4NDL35  
CG: LET ME MESSAGE YOU PRIVATELY.  
CC: oh come on are you searious  
CG: VERY. BESIDES, IT’LL ONLY TAKE A MOMENT.  
CC: it betta  
CA: my guess is wwere gettin more trolls  
CC: who  
CA: i dunno  
CA: nep seems likely to be one and if we care about balance i guess theres always tavs dancestor  
CC: youre bad at guessin  
CA: excuse me  
CG: SAY HELLO TO THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR NOT SO HUMBLE GROUP.

* * *

The room is quiet and cast in darkness. The drawn blinds on the window block most of the sunlight but small rays still manage to peek through. They softly illuminate two beds on each side of the room, one occupied and one empty. Two desks sit near the beds, one littered with foreign souvenirs and the other holding haphazardly placed notebooks and a dirty stuffed wolf that currently lived at the base of a potted plant. Two wardrobes sit opposite of the beds, obviously in an attempt to leave a large clear space in the middle of the room. The only thing that thwarts that plan is the piles of stuffed animals and movie posters that waited in their tubes for the day they would be hung on the walls.

Across the room, someone groans from the occupied bed. The copious amount of blankets covering the occupant means that they can’t actually be seen, but that will quickly be rectified. As soon as memories came flooding back, they thrash inside their blankets and claw for escape. One by one, the blankets fall to the floor to let a girl with long, frazzled hair sit straight up, her eyes wide.

Jade doesn't know where she is. All she remembers is the final door turning into something that  _ wasn’t _ supposed to be there, and then those words, and- oh no. Where is she!? She stands up and quickly looks over the room. She seems to be in some sort of version of her old bedroom, back on her island. There's obviously someone else living with her but she can deal with that later. For now she sniffs the air to try to find any telling scents, but for some reason her nose isn’t working quite right. Jade narrows her eyes in thought and marches across the room to stand in front of the mirror sitting between both wardrobes.

She sees herself wearing a nightshirt, but otherwise everything is the same. She's still her average height, she still has her dark skin, her-

Her ears. Her dog ears! They're gone! Jade quickly reaches up to pat at her head as if the mirror is somehow wrong, but she can’t feel them. A quick reach behind her tells her that her tail was gone too. No wonder her nose isn’t working right, she's so used to having Bec’s sense of smell that she forgot what it's like to be ‘normal’ again. She sighs and rubs her face with one hand. Hopefully this is all the game did.

Suddenly the door opens. “Hey, Jade!”

Jade almost jumps ten feet into the air. She whips around, baring her teeth and curling her fists, only to relax as soon as she sees who it is. It's just Jake. “Oh, hey,” she replies. She doesn’t really remember him well. They didn’t talk much, especially since they both assumed they’d have more time for that after they collected their reward. Some reward this new game is. “Do you know what’s going on?” she asks. Hopefully he’ll know more than her.

“I sure do,” Jake beams. He doesn't seem fazed at all by her reaction. “We’re heading out in half an hour to go see our good friends!”

Jade quickly perks up. It would’ve been better with her ears and tail back, but she’ll definitely get them soon. Especially with the others to help! “That’s awesome! I’ll get dressed right away.”

“You got it,” he replies. “Feel free to get yourself whatever you like for breakfast.”

“Will do,” she says as she watches him back out of the doorway. She smiles happily to herself as she goes over to close the door. Things may be weird, but at least meeting their friends would get everyone closer to winning the post game already. Jade walks over to the window and peeks through the blinds, letting her eyes adjust for a moment. Her intention was just to see what season it was so she could dress accordingly, but now that she's looking, she finds herself staring at the nearby buildings instead of the trees. She isn’t on her island, but in some kind of neighborhood! Maybe that's the game’s doing? This room is clearly different so it makes sense that she’ll live somewhere different too.

Jade sighs and steps away from the window. She goes over to her closet and pulls out a t-shirt and shorts to put on, thinking all the while about what this new game might entail. Would they have to fight more monsters? Will the monsters be different? Wait, do they even have their powers anymore? Jade quickly looks towards one of the piles, makes a frame around one of the stuffed animals with her hands, and successfully manages to make the animal bigger it. At least she still has her powers. But then there's the question of whether or not Jade can still teleport. That's more Bec’s doing, but since he's gone for now she needs to know if she can do it with her godtier powers alone. 

She closes her eyes and thinks about appearing on the other side of the room, but it isn’t that simple anymore. She has to  _ move _ herself there, not  _ be _ there. Jade relaxes herself and expands her spatial awareness. She doesn’t just know where objects are in her room by remembering them anymore. Now her powers means she can sense the edges of the walls and the desks, and most importantly, the spot she wants to teleport to. She focuses on the space between her and her destination. Jade furrows her brows with concentration and, with a push, feels space bend around her for a brief second. She blinks her eyes open and finds that she's exactly where she wants to be, and she lets out a whoop of success. She did it! The process is more complicated than it was when she was Bec, but if she needs to she can get used to it.

Jade hums to herself and walks over to open the blinds covering the window. She’ll have to practice long distance teleportation, but that can wait until she can make a plan with her friends. For now she's happy enough to teleport her phone into her pocket (luckily it was close by), brush her hair out, and exit her room to walk downstairs like a normal person. She sees Jake at the table buttering a piece of toast and thinks to herself. They might be in another game but that doesn’t mean they can’t get used to each other. She's pretty sure the best way to do that is to treat him like a sibling, so she does what her limited knowledge of siblings tells her she should do.

Jade steals Jake’s toast as soon as he finishes buttering it and smirks at his shocked expression as she takes a bite out of it. She only hums in response to his complaints and watches as he grabs another slice of bread. She won’t steal that one, she doesn’t want to be  _ that _ mean. While Jake is waiting for his new slice of bread to toast he leans back against the counter and asks her something, but Jade finds that her attention is somewhere else completely. Her grandpa is now entering the room.

He's exactly as she remembered him: broad shouldered, curly mustache, the whole nine yards. He doesn’t have his usual exploration gear on, instead he wears khaki shorts like Jake’s and a green Hawaiian shirt, but he's still perfectly recognizable. Jade gasps in excitement and runs over to wrap her arms around him, only barely keeping the toast from messing up his clothes.

“Grandpa!” she exclaims. She can’t believe it! He's alive again!

“Jade!” he chuckles. “It’s like you haven’t seen me in years!”

Jade gets confused at that, but nothing can slow down her excitement. She steps away from her grandpa and looks him up and down just to make sure. Yup, this is him!

From his position at the counter, Jake laughs. He just finished preparing his second piece of toast. “First you wake up late and now you’re acting like you haven’t seen Grandpa last night? Who  _ are _ you?”

Jade huffs and crosses her arms, giving Jake her best unamused glare. It doesn’t really work since she's still excited, but it's the thought that counted! “Well excuse me,” she retorts. “Maybe I was exhausted and I just wanted to appreciate Grandpa.” How does Jake know her well enough to know that she usually wakes up early? She guesses it could just be his knowledge of his grandmother. She also doesn’t know why Jake thinks she saw Grandpa last night, but he could always be confused by John’s (or maybe Jane’s) dad. They do look kind of similar.

“Sleeping in makes sense after yesterday,” Grandpa adds. “You did seem tired.”

Jake shrugs and bites off a piece of toast. Jade remembers her own, so she takes a bite of hers too. There's no sense in wasting food! She's seeing her friends today anyway, and she's sure there's going to be enough shenanigans to make her hungry. Speaking of her friends... “So when are we heading out?”

“As soon as you two are ready,” replies Grandpa.

Jake immediately scarfs down his piece of toast. “I’m ready now!”

Jade quickly finishes her’s too. “I’m ready too!”

Their grandpa laughs heartily and starts walking towards the door. “If you say so. I’ll go get my shoes on.”

The two teens glance at each other before quickly racing towards the front door. Jade is slower at first since she doesn't know where the door is, but once she sees where Jake's heading she's off like a shot. She skids into the foyer and hurriedly looks around for her shoes. Jake shoots past her towards a closet and she quickly follows. He opens it and pulls out a random pair of shoes and Jade whoops as she snatches them from his grasp. Thankfully they're hers, and she quickly manages to put them on before Jake even finds his (she may or may not have used her powers to help, but she doesn’t think anyone saw). Jade hears Grandpa laugh at their antics and she grins over at him, ignoring Jake's cursing in the background while he clumsily tries to get his shoes on.

Once they're finally ready, Grandpa leads them outside to a car parked in the driveway. Jade really expected them to have transportalizers, but she guesses that the new game wouldn’t give them  _ everything _ . Otherwise there would barely be any point! Jake runs around the car to claim shotgun and Jade sticks her tongue out at him, but she doesn’t really mind. She finds that she actually enjoys sibling antics! She can’t believe she missed this while she was growing up.

But she's still growing, she thinks to herself as she slides into the back seat. She isn’t legally an adult yet, but even if she was she knows that brains don’t really stop growing until 25. She's definitely still growing! Jade buckles herself in the way John once described it to her and looks out of the window as the car lurches forward. Speaking of age, she's still 16, right? A quick look over confirms it. At least the new game didn’t change that much. However, apparently it changed Jake’s manner of speech? Again, she hasn’t known him for that long, but he definitely seems to talk differently! Could the game even do that or was he playing a trick on her earlier? She'll ask him later.

Jade watches the houses go by. Each one is nearly identical to the others. She would’ve liked at least some big differences, but that might just be her. The people outside mowing their lawns and playing with their kids certainly don’t seem to mind. The car slowly trundles along and Jade watches how the houses change and get closer together. Are they heading into a city? If so, maybe she should see if her friends can explore it with her. It would be nice to see new things and exercise always makes it easier to think and come up with new plans!

Sadly, the car doesn’t head into the city. Instead it pulls into a parking lot, the townhouses across the street standing out among the growing number of apartment buildings. Jade peers around the front seat to see a park stretching out in front of the car. It isn’t anything massive, but the open field and small copses of trees make Jade long to run and explore everything the park has to offer. She almost forgot her longing for green spaces after the stress of the battle and this alternate game, not to mention the long lonely wait on the ship, but now she can finally satisfy that need! The car is barely parked in its space when she opens the door and launches herself out. Or, well, she tries to. She has to unbuckle herself before she can actually get out. Hopefully nobody notices her blunder!

Of course, Jake and Grandpa notice. They both laugh as they climb out of the car, but Jade barely hears them. She's already sprinting down the field. She laughs as she trip herself and falls into the grass to roll around in it. It’s been so long, but the wait is worth it just to feel this again! She keeps laughing as she sits up and feels the grass with her hands. It's just how she remembers it.

Jade can hear other voices from the parking lot but she doesn’t turn to look just yet. It's early enough in the day that she has the field all to herself and she wants to enjoy it for a moment. She rolls around in the grass some more, not minding her hair. It was always messy with sticks and grass back on her island, so she's very used to it. Then again that was three years ago. Oh well, she’ll deal with it later. For now she's distracted by the quiet rustle of grass and the loud sounds of conversation from her friends.

Jade quickly gets up and faces them. All the humans were there, even the ones she didn’t talk to before! There aren’t any trolls, but she figures they’ll come up with a plan to find them sooner or later. For now she takes in the sight of the group approaching her. There's Dave in some sort of argument with Rose, John making a joke with Roxy, and Jake leading the group with Dirk one one side and Jane on the other. All of them look the same as they were before the alternate game started. Except for the obvious lack of godtier pajamas and the addition of more normal clothes. Luckily, if Jade is anything to go by, they don’t need them for their powers.

“Hey, guys!” beams Jade. “How was your morning?”

Rose pointedly looks away from Dave to fix her gaze on Jade instead. Behind her, Dave smirks. “It was surprisingly pleasant,” she answers. “I couldn’t say the same for the car ride.”

Dirk tears his attention away from Jake to smirk at Rose too. “Weren’t you the one that started the argument?”

His younger sister doesn’t look at him in favor of continuing to talk to Jade. “But how was your morning? As exciting as usual?”

Jade snickers. “I don’t know about ‘usual’. It’s kind of weird waking up in a neighborhood with your grandpa back after everything Sburb threw at me, after all!”

Rose only responds with a blank stare. Jade deflates a bit at that and glances at the rest of the group, who are all looking at her with the same expression. What did she say? Was she not supposed to talk about Sburb in public? The only person with a different expression is Roxy, with her eyebrows raised in shock. Jade opens her mouth to try to ask why everyone is staring but suddenly Roxy cuts her off with a shrill, forced laugh.

“Holy shit, that’s one weird dream you had! You said Sburb, right? That’s  _ so _ weird! I dreamed about Sburb too! Maybe we haven’t seen each other in so long I accidentally shared one of my  _ usual _ weird dreams with you to try to reach you!”

Jade is confused. Roxy called Sburb a dream, but why would she do that? Doesn’t everyone know? Jade glances around at the rest of the group and notices that most of them have their gazes trained on Roxy instead. She doesn’t know what's going on, but she _does_ know that Roxy is smart. Whatever's happening, she's going to play along. “Hah, yeah,” Jade laughs. Hopefully it sounds real enough. “I’m surprised you guys didn’t realize I was referencing it earlier. I thought I texted you guys about it.” 

That's obviously a lie, but the tension she didn’t even know was there suddenly fades with her words. John and Dirk both check their phones real quick and John shakes his head.

“Nope,” he says. “There’s nothing here.”

Roxy quickly butts in front of him and strolls over to Jade. “Yeah, that’s weird! I didn’t get a text either. How about we go over there,” she points towards a nearby copse of trees, “and I can see if your phone needs to be fixed?”

Jade glances between Roxy and the group but ultimately puts a smile on her face and takes out her phone. No powers this time. “Of course! Here, let me tell you all about it.”

The girls ignore the complaints of the group as they hurry towards the trees, but no one comes after them. Once they're out of earshot Jade quickly turns to Roxy, but the other teen puts a hand on her back and keeps her walking. Jade huffs but follows along until they're both sitting down at the base of a tree, where Roxy finally explains.

“You can’t just go around and talk about Sburb,” she begins. Jade opens her mouth to interrupt but Roxy holds out a hand. “I know you want to, but trust me, you can’t. At least, you shouldn’t. No one else in our group knows about it and I really don’t want to attract the attention of someone who does. I saw a human Condesce walking down the street early today and,” she shudders, “I really don’t want people like her to know that we’re potential threats.”

Jade sits there for a moment and lets the information sink in. Is this the nature of the game? No one but her and Roxy remembers? “So…” she trails off. The other teen patiently waits for her to continue. “We’re the only ones?”

“Yeah, it looks like that,” Roxy sighs, “but at least it isn’t all that bad. It’s better than only one of us remembering.”

Jade finds herself nodding in agreement. “Yeah, it is.”

The two girls look at each other for a moment. Neither can believe the situation they're in. In the distance, the shrieks and yells of their friends chasing each other and joking around can be heard. Eventually Roxy speaks up. “So what do we do?”

Jade takes another moment to think. They can try to convince their friends that Sburb happened, but she has a feeling that would be disastrous. What else can they do? The game isn’t even throwing challenges at them yet. Oh, but wait… “Do the rest of them know about the trolls?”

Roxy frowns and shakes her head. “No, why?”

“Well,” Jade muses. “There’s the chance that at least one of the trolls remember, and I still have Karkat’s handle.”

Roxy straightens up. “Holy shit, yeah! You can message him and see if he remembers. Even if he doesn’t you can always ask for the handles of the other trolls!”

Jade laughs in delight and turns her phone on. “Heck yes. And if we’re lucky, Terezi might remember too! She could probably  _ make _ our friends remember Sburb.”

The blond teen grins and crosses her fingers. “Let’s hope!”

Jade grins too and opens up her pesterchum app. She can’t find Karkat on her chum roll, but that's okay. She just has to search up his handle.

\-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 11:12 --

GG: hi!!!!  
CG: OH, HEY. IT’S YOU.  
GG: you remember me :D  
CG: WHY WOULDN’T I? IT’S PRETTY HARD TO FORGET YOU.  
GG: ha, i guess so!  
GG: hey i wanted to ask you a question  
CG: GO AHEAD BUT BE QUICK. I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION.  
GG: uhhhh  
GG: oh shoot i dont know how to word this :(  
CG: JUST SPIT IT OUT. I PROMISE I WON’T JUDGE.  
CG: OR SAY THAT IT WAS ONLY A DREAM.  
GG: wait a second  
GG: did you mention dream as a reference to something??  
CG: DID I?  
GG: do you know about...  
GG: sburb????  
CG: THANK FUCK, YOU REMEMBER TOO.  
GG: yes!!!  
GG: im so glad you remember :D  
CG: TRUST ME I AM TOO. EVEN THOUGH IT SUCKS REMEMBERING.  
GG: wait why would it suck  
CG: THERE’S SOME THINGS GOING ON THAT I’D RATHER NOT DEAL WITH, LIKE ME BEING A HUMAN.  
GG: youre a human????? :O  
CG: YEAH AND NO OFFENSE BUT IT FUCKING SUCKS.  
GG: well i wasnt a troll but i can kinda empathize  
CG: HOW?  
GG: bec is gone :(  
GG: i dont have my ears or tail anymore!!  
CG: OH SHIT.  
CG: ACTUALLY HOLD ON, WE SHOULD CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION ELSEWHERE.  
GG: in person??  
CG: NO. THERE’S A MEMO WITH THE OTHER FORMER TROLLS THAT REMEMBER AND I’M GOING TO INVITE YOU TO IT SO YOU CAN TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THE HUMAN SIDE OF THINGS.  
CG: I MEAN THE HUMAN HUMAN SIDE OF THINGS. THE HUMANS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HUMAN.  
GG: oh cool!!!! you should also invite  
GG: uh hold on  
GG: tipsyGnostalgic!  
CG: WHO?  
GG: roxy!  
GG: she remembers too :)  
CG: NICE. THAT MAKES SIX OF US.  
GG: six??? :O  
CG: YOU’RE GOING TO GET AN INVITE TO A MEMO SOON BUT IT WON’T BE FROM ME. JOIN IT ANYWAY.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 11:26 --

Jade is practically bouncing in excitement at this point. Six of them remember, and to top it all off, the other four are trolls! There's every chance that one of them is Terezi. Roxy looks at Jade quizzically so she shows the other teen the last messages that were sent. Roxy’s eyes widen and she quickly reaches for her phone just in time for it to ping at her. Jade checks her own phone and sure enough, there's the memo invite.

gardenGnostic [GG] responded to memo  
tipsyGnostalgic [TG] responded to memo  
GG: hi!!!!!  
TG: sup ;)  
TA: 1 H4V3 N0 1D34 WJH0 7H353 N3RD5 4R3 8U7 K4RK47H 54Y5 7H47 7H3Y R3M3M83R 700  
CG: THEY DO.  
CA: oh hey  
CC: sup yourself  
CC: so who exactly are you two  
GG: im jade :D  
TG: and iiiim roxy  
CA: oh hey i remember you  
TG: wait which one of us  
CA: i mean both a you but mostly jade  
GG: i remember you too >:(  
CA: wwoah hey wwhats wwith that face  
GG: i think you know what its for buster!!!  
TG: holy shit is there some beef there  
GG: i just really dont like him  
CA: thats fair cause you kneww me before i died  
CG: I DON’T MEAN TO INTERRUPT BUT WHO AM I KIDDING, I DEFINITELY MEAN TO INTERRUPT. LET’S INTRODUCE OURSELVES SO EVERYONE KNOWS WHO THEY’RE TALKING TO. I’M KARKAT.  
CA: wwell im eridan  
CC: im meenah  
TA: 4ND 1M M17HUN4  
TA: M17UN4  
TG: hi guys  
GG: hi!  
GG: im a bit sad that theres no terezi but all of you are cool too! :D  
CG: NOW THAT WE GOT THAT OUT OF THE WAY, THERE’S A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT I NEED TO ASK OF OUR NEW ARRIVALS.  
TG: oooo what is it  
CG: ARE EITHER OF YOU GOING TO READ ABOVE WHERE YOU CAME IN?  
TG: lol NOPE  
GG: oh i was going to but if roxy isnt youre probably going to explain anyway  
CG: I’M SO GLAD I CAN BE CONVENIENT.  
GG: and knowing two of the people here most of the important stuff is going to be surrounded by unimportant garbage  
CG: I HATE THAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT ME BUT YOU’RE ALSO RIGHT.  
TA: 1D 4RGU3 7H47H 47 L3457 H4LF 0F 17 15 1MP0R74N7  
CC: most of it reely wasnt  
CG: EITHER WAY, I’M GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS SHIT AND NONE OF YOU FUCKERS ARE GOING TO INTERRUPT.  
TA: 1 W1LL  
CC: im totally goin to interrupt  
CA: ill join wwhat humans call the bandwwagon  
GG: i wont interrupt  
TG: i will totes interrupt  
CG: WOW, FUCK ALL OF YOU EXCEPT FOR JADE. I’M JUST GOING TO TYPE UP ONE BIG BLOCK OF TEXT AND HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU WILL READ IT EVEN THOUGH NONE OF YOU WILL BECAUSE IT’S A **BIG BLOCK OF TEXT**.  
CA: i dont evven need to read it ivve been here the wwhole time  
CG: FUCK OFF. TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES WHILE I PREPARE THIS ABSOLUTE MONSTROSITY.  
CC: aight cool  
TG: so hows everyone  
TA: HUM4N  
TG: oh shit really  
GG: you didnt read that??  
TG: nah i only looked at like  
TG: the very bottom messages you showed me  
GG: oh welp  
GG: anyway yeah he and karkat are humans  
CA: so am i  
CC: me too  
GG: okay all the trolls are humans!!  
TA: H0LY 5H17 K4RK475 7H074LLY G01NG L157 7H3 F4C7H 7H47 3V3RY0N35 HUM4N  
TA: H35 G01NG 70 83 50 M4D 7H47H W3 4LR34DY 541D 17 F1R57  
CA: quick spam the channel so kar doesnt wwanna scroll up and read wwhat he missed  
CC: on one hand i want to see him pissed  
CC: but on the other hell also be pissed at the spam  
TA: FUCK Y34H 1M G01NG 7H0 5P4M 50 H4RD  
TG: hell yeah lets do it  
GG: im not going to waste my energy by telling you guys to wait patiently  
TA: GFJKK5JH4JH  
CA: spam  
CA: spam  
CC: wait hold on i know a reference  
TG: lol were actually doing this  
CC: holla holla get dolla  
TA: K5DJK4JK45H0K101H4HJ4  
CA: more spam  
GG: :/  
CC: which one is the human money sign  
CA: spammmm  
TG: money is $  
CC: shell yeah  
TA: FLJ5JH48V5DJKLKJ4H845KJLJLJHG4KL4  
CC: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  
CA: smap  
CA: samp  
TG: $$$  
CA: pasm  
CC: $$$ 38) $$$  
TG: $$$$$ !!!  
CA: smap  
CA: wwait fuck i already did that one  
TA: FGKJ5JGHFDK54DHGJJFKJ045DJGKD5LGJHDKL54DGHFKDJ54JDH4GD54DG5H4J5HDG75Y4U15DY7GH5JK54DCX7DGHJ8QK4D5HVG5JKDFHGV8WJKD5FHGFVH8JWD5FHGJ  
GG: this is getting ridiculous  
CG: LET ME NUMBER THIS INFORMATION IN THE HOPES THAT IT MIGHT MAKE ONE OF YOU MORE LIKELY TO READ THIS. 1) ERIDAN, MITUNA, MEENAH, JADE, ROXY AND I ALL REMEMBER. SO FAR NO ONE ELSE DOES BUT I’M ALSO PRETTY SURE THE DANCESTORS APART FROM KANKRI AND MEULIN HAVEN’T BEEN CHECKED. 2) PRESUMABLY ALL OF OUR ANCESTORS ARE ALIVE, HUMAN, AND ACTING AS OUR LUSI. OR “PARENTS” IF YOU’RE HUMAN AND WOULD LIKE TO CALL THEM THAT. SO FAR THE CONFIRMED HUMAN ANCESTORS ARE THE SIGNLESS, THE PSIONIC, THE DISCIPLE, DUALSCAR, AND THE CONDESCE. 3) THE FACT THAT OUR ANCESTORS ARE HUMAN LEADS ME AND ERIDAN TO BELIEVE THAT THIS VERSION OF THE CONDESCE IS ALSO HUMAN AND THUS PACIFIED. MEENAH HASN’T ACTUALLY CONFIRMED THAT SHE’S HUMAN SO FUCK YOU, MEENAH. IF SHE IS, THAT MEANS THAT THERE’S LIKELY NO TROLL CONDESCE TO PROPERLY THWART US IN CASE WE WANT TO BUILD A BASE ON ALTERNIA OR SOMETHING. BUT WE ALSO NEED A WAY TO TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE AND I DON’T TRUST THESE IDIOTS NOT TO FUCK THAT UP RIGHT NOW. 4) NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, THE ANCESTORS MIGHT REMEMBER TOO. WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL. I’LL REPEAT THIS OUTSIDE OF THE TEXT BLOCK SO I WILL KNOW THAT ALL OF YOU KNOW. 5) MITUNA IS DEALING WITH TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES REGARDING BEING A HUMAN AND I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST THAT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE HE DOESN’T WANT TO. 6) MEENAH MESSAGED ERIDAN AND GOT SOMEONE ELSE WITH THE SAME HANDLE. THERE’S BEEN NO RESPONSE FROM IT YET BUT WE SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR THAT. SO FAR THE CURRENT THEORY IS THAT ERIDAN (AND THUS LIKELY ALL OF US) TOOK THE PLACE OF ANOTHER VERSION OF US. IT EXPLAINS HOW OTHER PEOPLE CAN REFERENCE THINGS HAPPENING YESTERDAY WHILE WE ONLY REMEMBER THE GAME. ANYWAY, MEENAH MIGHT’VE MESSAGED THE OTHER VERSION OF ERIDAN BY ACCIDENT. THAT ALSO KIND OF IMPLIES THAT THE TROLL VERSION OF ERIDAN AND THIS HUMAN VERSION OF SWAPPED BODIES, WHICH ULTIMATELY IMPLIES THAT WE ARE IN FACT IN A FUCKING FANFICTION. GREAT, I LOVE IT ALREADY.  
GG: oh look!! he posted!!! lets read it!!!!  
CC: shell no  
CA: nah  
CG: I’M POSTING THIS SEPARATELY TOO BECAUSE I KNOW MOST OF YOU SHITS WON’T READ THE BLOCK OF TEXT YOU FORCED ME TO TYPE UP. THE ANCESTORS MIGHT REMEMBER THE GAME, SO WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL AROUND THEM. ESPECIALLY THE HIGHBLOOD ONES.  
CA: damnit noww i havve to read somethin  
CC: fuck the law beach im not readin anythin  
CG: IT’S ACTUALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT, MEENAH!  
CC: damn fine get off my back  
TA: 0H 5N4P  
TG: fuck  
CA: wwhat is it  
GG: oh okay i just read through and thats a lot of information  
TG: FUCK  
CG: WHAT’S WRONG?  
CC: pale cheatin on tuna huh  
CG: FUCK OFF, NOW IS NOT THE TIME!  
GG: roxy what is it???  
TG: i saw condesce today and im totes fucking right we cant mention shit about sburb to anyyone else what if she remmbers and hears and comes after us  
GG: okay roxy you need to calm down  
CG: GOGDAMNIT ROXY, IT’S OKAY.  
TA: 1V3 4LR34DY 833N F1ND1NG W4Y5 70 K1ND4 D3L373 P3573RL0G5 50 W3 5H0ULD 83 R3L47H1V3LY 54F3 FR0M H3R R34D1NG P457 5H17  
TA: 4L50 83F0R3 Y0U GUY5 G37 0N MY C453 1M 54V1NG 7H3 1P 7H1NG F0R L473R 7H475 L355 1MP0R74N7H  
GG: roxy i see you freaking out over there do you need a hug  
TG: not now  
GG: okay  
CC: whats her deal with the condesce shes just another anemone we moray or moray not have to fight  
TG: dont fucking start  
CA: wwoah okay am i missin somethin  
GG: i feel like im missing something too and i dont like it :(  
CG: HOLD ON. JADE, YOU’RE WITH ROXY RIGHT NOW?  
GG: yeah  
CG: THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO MESSAGING EACH OTHER INSTEAD OF TALKING IN A GROUP CHAT?  
TA: C4U53 7H15 15 4 GR0UP CH47 4ND 7H3Y H4V3 70 74LK H3R3 70 74LK 70 7H3 R357 0F U5  
CG: I KNOW THAT SHIT, BUT JADE JUST ASKED IF ROXY WAS OKAY. IN A GROUP CHAT. SHE COULD’VE EASILY HAVE DONE THAT IN REAL LIFE.  
TA: D0 Y0U W4N7 M3 70 G0 70 Y0UR R35P1738L0CK 4ND H4V3 7H15 C0NV3R54710N 7H3R3  
CG: NO. POINT TAKEN.  
GG: guys roxy is not doing okay  
TG: im perfectly fine  
TG: i read up  
GG: okay?  
CA: wwait  
TG: meenah  
CC: yeah  
TG: whos the adult living with you  
CA: wwait hold on i knoww noww lets talk about somethin else  
CA: look cro is knockin on my door wwhats this could he actually remember lets invvestigate that okay  
CG: ERIDAN, WHY ARE YOU ACTING WEIRD? LET HER TALK.  
CA: nope nope nope  
CC: well im goin to ignore them  
CC: the adult in my hive is the condesce  
CC: why do you ask  
TG: YOU HAVE TO BE FJCKING KISDING ME  
CA: fuck  
CG: OH SHIT  
TA: 0H 5N4P  
GG: oh no!!!  
CC: damn  
TG: you know what no  
TG: im okay  
TG: fuck feelings  
GG: you are really not okay!!!!  
TG: jade ily but if you do that im legit going to freak the fuck out and i really need to be calm right now  
GG: okay but after this im giving you a hug and i will not accept excuses!!  
TG: thats fair  
CG: I FEEL LIKE I’M MISSING SOMETHING.  
CC: me too  
TG: oh youre just misxsing the fact that i grew up floating in an endless ocean with no humans to actually talk to for the first 13 years of my ljife and the only source of humanity for that time was the books and alcohol my mom left me both of which i used to COMPELETEY forget the fact that my life was a LIOVIGN HEFLL except that was a bad idwa and i probably stujnted my brain growth because KIDA ARENTY SUOPOSED TO DI THGAT but i didnt FUCXKN know any better because my moim was DEASA and i couldnt understand the carapsicas and all i had was my alchohol and the monsaters in the ocean and all that was thanks to the BTICHTR that destroyed the eENTIRETY OF MYRACE except for MR and DIRJK and i thought i fucking killed her but no here shre is again and if she remembers shes going to fjucking take the firfst channce she can to off me and i cant deal with this BU’LGHIY  
GG: roxy  
TG: im okay jkust let me get thgrough tyhis conversatnion  
GG: roxy i can and will steal your phone and force you to calm down  
TG: plesda  
TG: look ill tyhpe more slowly  
TG: see  
TG: no typoes  
TG: im okay for now  
CG: HOLY SHIT.  
CA: fuck i saww enough a her dream bubble memories to knoww this wwould happen  
CC: honestly i dont sea what the problem is  
CC: just krill her again  
TG: if you donmt shut up im going to find you and legit fucking muirder you  
CC: hm  
GG: okay wow no murder please!!!  
CG: HOW ABOUT WE STEP AWAY FROM THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW?  
CA: yes please thats a vvery good idea  
TG: sure wtvr  
CG: MITUNA, WHAT’S THE PROGRESS ON DELETING PESTERLOGS?  
TA: 1 W45 JU57H 7H3571NG 17 4ND MY M37H0D 533M5 7H0 W0RK 45 L0NG 45 7H3 P3R50N 534RCH1NG F0R 7H3 L0G D035N7H KN0W 700 MUCH 480U7 C0D1NG  
TA: 17HLL 74K3 M0R3 71M3 F0R M3 70 F1GUR3 0U7H H0W 70 4C7U4LLY C0MPL373LY D3L373 17  
CG: THAT’S OKAY.  
CG: WAIT, HOW WERE YOU TESTING THAT?  
TA: 1 W45 M3554G1NG 50M3 0F 7H3 7HR0LL5 FR0M MY 535510N WH1L3 Y0U GUY5 W3R3 74LK1NG 70 533 1F 7H3Y R3M3M83R 4ND 7H3Y D0N7  
CC: i thought that was obvious  
CG: LITERALLY HOW WOULD THAT BE OBVIOUS?  
CA: cro probably already told evveryone about my supposed dream and no one messaged me about it  
CC: yeah what he said  
CG: AND HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ERIDAN’S PESTERCHUM?  
CC: i wouldnt  
CC: he just never asked for tuna to let other people into the memo  
CG: SHIT THAT’S ACTUALLY A VALID POINT.  
CC: damn right it is  
TG: we shouldnt rely on talking over pessterchum too much  
GG: mituna said that he could delete messages  
TG: yeah but can he encryhpt this memo so no decent hackers can find their wsy here  
TA: N07 R1GH7H N0W  
TG: exactly  
CG: SO WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?  
TG: find a way to meet in person and properly talk abt plans then  
CA: theres a problem  
CA: i havve no idea wwhere any a you guys livve  
GG: wait  
GG: i have an idea  
CG: WHAT IS IT?  
CC: and shes gone  
CA: thats another one  
TG: fuck off  
CC: theres really no need to be mean  
TG: theres actually every reaason to be mean to you but sure  
CC: whats even your deal im not her  
TG: i dont want to fuckjn talk about it anymore  
CC: fine be like that  
GG: okay i have a link!!  
GG: here  
GG: go there and tell the map to find where you are right now and then hit save  
GG: all of us can add locations and all of us can see the other locations so its perfect!  
CG: THAT’S ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA.  
CC: aight i just did it what now  
GG: wait for everyone else to do it  
CA: did it  
CG: DID IT.  
TA: D1D 17H  
TA: W417 4 FUCK1NG 53C0ND K4RK47  
CG: SHIT WE’RE IN THE SAME BUILDING.  
CC: you guys are fuckin dumb holy shit  
CG: HEY YOU KNOW WHAT? DON’T TALK SHIT ABOUT MY BROTHER.  
GG: what????  
TG: wait WHAT  
TA: H3H  
CA: oh yeah that  
CC: yeah thats a fin  
CC: also stop fuckin pale flirtin  
CG: FUCK OFF! ALSO YES, I FORGOT TO MENTION IN THE INFO DUMP THAT MITUNA AND I ARE CURRENTLY HUMAN SIBLINGS.  
GG: how do you forget to mention that!!??  
TG: yeah that seems kinda important  
CG: I DON’T KNOW, I JUST DID. OUR OTHER SIBLINGS ARE SOLLUX, KANKRI, NEPETA, AND MEULIN.  
TG: oh shit nepeta  
GG: thats a lot of people in one house!!  
CG: IT IS. AND HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I SHARE A ROOM WITH KANKRI?  
CC: haha holy shit i cant fuckin bereef that  
CC: betta you than me  
CA: i havve to agree  
CG: I’M ANGRY THAT YOU GUYS WOULD SAY THOSE THINGS BUT I CAN’T BLAME YOU.  
GG: oh shoot  
CG: WHAT IS IT NOW?  
GG: i put in the parks location cause i forgot this was just for where we live  
TA: L00K5 L1K3 W3R3 4LL 4 8UNCH 0F 1D107H5 H3R3  
CG: THAT’S THE MOST CORRECT THING I’VE HEARD SAID SINCE I JOINED THIS MEMO.  
CA: im pretty sure other correct thins wwere said  
CG: FUCK OFF, YOU SHOULD KNOW I CAN ONLY REMEMBER WHAT’S ON MY SCREEN AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. HOW DARE YOU ASSUME I HAVE ANY SORT OF CAPACITY FOR MEMORY.  
CA: kar i platonically lovve you  
CG: FUCK YOU.  
TA: 0UCH  
CA: thank you for the commentary  
TG: anyway so im looking at the map right now and i think where jade and i are at is the best place to meet  
CG: WHY DO YOU THINK THAT?  
TG: even though so far theres only three locations here where any of us live i can kinda giess where i live and based on the pattern so far i think the park were in is close to the center  
TG: seems convenient i guess  
CA: that is convvenient and ill take it  
CG: THE PARK ISN’T ACTUALLY THAT FAR AWAY FROM MY HIVE SO I’M OKAY WITH THAT. I’LL ALSO MAKE SURE TO DRAG MITUNA ALONG.  
TA: L17H3R4LLY DR4G M3  
CG: NO.  
CC: i dont give a carp aboat where we meet  
GG: so i guess the park is good with everyone?  
CG: IT IS.  
CG: I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.  
GG: shoot!  
CG: I ZOOMED OUT ON THE MAP AND WE’RE NOWHERE NEAR ANY ISLANDS. YOU DON’T LIVE ON AN ISLAND ANYMORE?  
GG: nope!!  
GG: i live in a boring neighborhood  
CG: WAIT, I DO TOO. IS THERE ANY CHANCE THAT WE’RE CLOSE TO EACH OTHER?  
TA: 7H3R35 7H0U54ND5 0F 80R1NG N31GH80RH00D5 WHY 4R3 Y0U 455 UM1NG 5H35 M4G1C4LLY 1N 0N3 N34R U5  
CG: I’M NOT ASSUMING! I’M WONDERING.  
GG: now youve got me wondering too  
GG: ill put my location on the map when i get back home and message you then!  
CG: GOOD.  
TG: so good were meeting here  
CA: question  
CA: wwhen  
CC: id like to know the same fin  
GG: hmm... probably not right now!!  
CG: WHY NOT?  
GG: all of our friends that dont remember are here and theyd ask questions  
CG: THAT’S A GOOD POINT.  
TG: well do it tonight  
TG: or in the evening  
TG: i dont care  
CG: ARE YOU SURE?  
TG: very  
CC: sweet im goin to sneak out of my hive  
CA: doubt ill need to sneak but im lookin forwward to leavvin  
CG: WITH THREE ANCESTORS HERE I’M PRETTY SURE MITUNA AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM.  
TA: H4V3 Y0U H34RD 0F W1ND0W5  
CG: UH, YEAH?  
TA: JUMP 0U7H 0F 7H3M  
CG: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  
TA: JU57 D0 17H  
CG: NOT RIGHT NOW!  
TA: 0F C0UR53 N07H R1GH7 N0W  
GG: if we live close i could probably come and teleport you guys out!  
CG: THANK FUCK FOR GODTIERS. THAT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.  
GG: nice!! ill plan on doing that  
TG: ill message you guys when its time to leave  
TG: bye  
tipsyGnostalgic [TG] left the memo  
GG: oh well i guess i should probably get off too then  
GG: gotta hug roxy and all that  
GG: ill talk to you guys later!!  
CG: SEE YOU.  
gardenGnostic [GG] left the memo  


Jade closes the pesterchum app and sets her phone down. Roxy’s phone lays on the grass next to her, having been tossed by the other girl. She draws her knees up to hide her face between them. Jade frowns at the sight and shuffles over to wrap her arms around the other teen. “You’re okay,” she whispers. “She doesn’t remember. And even if she does and she gives you trouble, I’m just a message away. I’ll teleport right over and help you out.”

Roxy sniffles and nods, but no other response comes from her. All Jade can do is rub her back and hope that she'll be okay. Jade herself never had to experience what Roxy did, but she can at least imagine what this scenario might be like. That only makes her want to protect the blonde teen more. Off in the distance Dirk can be heard mentioning Roxy. Jade doesn’t look up to see the group’s concerned expressions. She only sits there, holds Roxy tight, and devises a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (09Pyros_09Hydros how the heck did you kudo this thing four separate times???)


	3. Introductions and Conversations Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Alright so it’s the weekend right now and I’m doing stuff, but tomorrow is Monday and I’ll finally be able to work on my fic then! Plus, I told someone in the comments that I’ll do it this week!  
> Wrist: Cool!  
> Me: *sleeps*  
> Wrist: *hurts itself in the middle of the night for no reason*  
> Me: . . .  
> Wrist: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Me: Well you suck but I’m still going to write! Here I go!  
> Wrist: *immense pain radiates from it as I barely finish a third of the memo at the beginning*  
> Me: ( ͡o ͜ʖ ͡o)
> 
> Long story short, my wrist made me wait a whole week before I could reliably make this chapter and I still don’t know what’s wrong with it. It's still bugging me, so if this chapter is a bit more crude than the last one, that's probably why!
> 
> EDIT: The pesterlogs broke after I previewed before posting so lemme try them again. If you see this and they're fine, that means I'm too scared to edit the chapter to remove this in case they break again.

CC: welp theyre gone  
CA: guess so  
CC: anywave hey tuna  
TA: 7H3 FUCK D0 Y0U W4N7H  
CC: the pink gal  
CC: roxys her name right  
CG: IT IS.  
CC: yeah okay whale she was onto somefin  
CC: meanin you gotta speed up your hacker game  
CG: THIS IS SLIGHTLY WORRYING.  
CC: what me askin him that  
CA: hes been typin for a wwhile it says so at the bottom  
CG: HE’S BEEN  
CG: WHAT ERIDAN SAID. HE CUT ME OFF.  
CC: the fuck are you talkin aboat it isnt that worryin  
CA: fuck are wwe gonna get another freak out  
CA: wwe cant exactly afford another one if wwe dont even know wwhats happenin wwith evverythin yet  
CC: clam down its nothin  
TA: 0H Y34H 7H475 JU57 W0ND3RFUL L37 M3 DR0P 3V3RY7HH1NG N4D 4LL 7H3 PR0J3C75 1 W45 W0RK1NG 0V3R7HH1M3 0N 4LR34DY 70 83 48L3 70 45CU4LLY 83 48L3 70 54Y 7H3 5H17 1 W45 74LK1NG 480U7 34RL13R Y0UR WH1M 15 MY 0NLY PR101R7Y 18GU355 4ND 4LL 7H3 5H17 13 4LR34DY D0N3 M34N5 N07H1NG 1F 7H3R35 M03 5H17 70 D0 HUH 1 D1DN7H 3V3N C0M3 CL0353 70 F1N15H1NG 7H3 07H3R 5H17 1F Y0U C4N 3V3N C4LL WH47 H4LF455 57473 1 W45 7RY1NG 70 G37 7H3M 7H0 45 F1N5H3D  
CG: WELL *HE* CERTAINLY DIDN’T CALM DOWN.  
TA: 0F C0UR53 1 D1DN7H FUCK455  
CC: that was sudden  
CC: what the fuck was that about  
CG: DO YOU HAVE EYES?  
CC: do you  
CG: ...  
CG: YOU’RE VERY SELECTIVE ABOUT THE THINGS YOU READ AND THE THINGS YOU DON’T.  
CC: fuck off  
TA: JFGDHD FUCK 1 7H0UGH7 WH47H 1 D1D 34RL13R W0ULD W0RK 4 817H 83773R 8U7 317HR3R 175 5H17H 0R 1M 5H17H  
TA: PR0848LY 7H3 53C0ND 0P710N  
CA: by wwhat you did earlier do you mean hackin or otherwwise  
TA: 07H3RW153  
CC: okay ignorin that the fuck did you say in that big unreadable block up there  
TA: 1 541D FUCK Y0U  
CC: excuse me  
TA: 1M N07H D01NG 7H15 4G41N  
TA: N07 W17H Y0U  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN “AGAIN”?  
CA: yeah im curious  
CC: i havent done shit like this before so i dont know why the fuck hes sayin again  
TA: Y0U M4K3 M3 L4UGH  
CG: IS THERE SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW ABOUT?  
TA: Y0U 837H Y0UR 455 7H3R3 15  
CC: whatever hes talkin aboat i dont know aboat it either  
CC: but actually theres more conchernin things  
TA: 175 N07 L1K3 Y0U 7H0 4V01D 4 PR08L3M  
TA: UNL355 17H5 Y0U 7H475 7H3 PR08L3M  
CA: is it just me or is this a sudden flip in character for mit  
CG: I DON’T KNOW ABOUT SUDDEN. IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WAS BREWING DURING THEIR SESSION.  
CA: howw the fuck do you knoww that  
CA: it couldvve been durin the bubbles  
CG: DO THEY REMEMBER THEIR TIME IN THE BUBBLES?  
CA: i do so i dont see wwhy they couldnt  
CG: I STAND CORRECTED.  
CC: so tuna  
TA: WH47  
CC: cronus is pesterin me and i dont want him to know i blocked him in case i need him in the future  
TA: 1 C4N7 83L13V3 1 7H0UGH7H Y0U W3R3 G01NG 70 74LK 480U7 7H3 PR08L3M F0R 0NC3  
CA: does evveryone havve beef with meenah  
CC: i dont fuckin know  
CC: i didnt do ANYFIN  
CG: THAT TOTALLY DOESN’T SOUND SUSPICIOUS AT ALL.  
TA: H3Y M33N4H  
CC: are you goin to block him now  
TA: 5UCK 0N MY 8ULG3  
TA banned CC from responding to memo.

Meenah groans and sits back in her chair. Her room is dark, just how she likes it, which means that the harsh glow of the screen is the only thing illuminating her disgruntled expression. Really? He banned her just for that? All she did was try to ask him for help!

Then again, that’s what she did last time.

Nevermind that. The chat is moving fast even with half of the members remaining. Eridan and Karkat are surprised by the sudden ban but thankfully Mituna is dodging the more specific questions. Meenah doesn’t know who’s sake he's doing that for, whether it's his, her’s, or the group’s, but all she cares about is the fact that it still benefits her. Confident that none of the past is going to be spilled, she decides to move on to something else. He isn’t going to unban her so quickly and she doesn’t care much for a memo that she can’t participate in. Besides, another pesterchat is waiting for her already. She wasn’t lying when she said Cronus was pestering her.

\-- casanovaAccoustic [CA] began pestering causticCondescension [CC] at 13:08 --

CA: hopefully i gave you enough time.  
CA: you left suddenly and i told you to get back to me but its been hours so i just want to make sure youre not dead or something.  
CA: hello?  
CA: im going to keep pestering you until you get back to me.  
CA: hi.  
CA: hi.  
CA: fuck punctuation  
CA: hi  
CA: hi  
CA: hi   
CC: what the FUCK do you want beach   
CA: oh hey.   
CC: yeah yeah hi   
CA: youre really snippy today. did something happen?   
CC: okay what the fuck   
CA: ?   
CC: you know exactly what im

Meenah almost facepalms herself when she remembers that Cronus is a human and doesn’t know what moirallegiance is. Human ignorance is going to be the death of her pretense at being another species.

CA: ...   
CC: nevermind  
CC: i have a question for you cause i have nothin betta to do   
CA: i have a question for you too.   
CC: im first  
CC: where the fuck is your quirk   
CA: my what?   
CC: the vw and wv fin   
CA: what are you talking about?   
CC: you did it again  
CC: what not wvhat   
CA: are you trying to get me to spell wrong?   
CC: i guess thats what a quirk is so yeah i am   
CA: ...   
CC: what now   
CA: did you get into a fandom or something?   
CC: the fuck is a fandom   
CA: at least one thing didnt change   
CC: okay nevermind im short on time so ill deal with you and your not quirk later  
CC: i have another question   
CA: no its my turn now   
CC: why didnt you stop flirtin even when i told you not to do it earlier today   
CA: oh come on   
CC: you snooze you loose   
CA: did i read that correctly   
CC: depends on what you think you read   
CA: do you seriously think im flirting with you?   
CC: oh that  
CC: what the fuck else is this if it isnt flirtin   
CA: first eri and now you. theres some serious marbles loose today   
CC: the fuck you talkin about beach   
CA: i didnt stop “flirting” earlier because i wasnt flirting. and im not now  
CA: why the hell would i flirt with you?   
CC: thats not somefin cronus would say   
CA: actually it is   
CC: nah   
CA: i cant believe you.  
CA: this is a joke right?   
CC: okay the fuck are you talkin about   
CA: i knew you thought low of me but i never thought youd think that low.   
CC: what the fuck   
CA: youre my SISTER for fucks sake  
CA: why the fuck would i flirt with you?

Meenah has to mentally take a few steps back. He's what? She saw what Karkat was talking about earlier with his brothers and sisters so she knows that it's a possibility, but she never thought she might have her _own_ brother. Sister, sure. She's smart enough to know what Feferi is to her in this human world. But a brother? Does that mean Eridan is her brother too? Whatever the case, at least it's keeping her safe from this Cronus’ attempts at flirting. Well, as long as she keeps her secret up.

CC: oh shit yeah  
CC: totally forgot  
CC: yeah   
CA: now thats just suspicious.   
CC: what do you mean suspicious   
CA: meenah   
CC: cronus   
CA: are you okay?   
CC: of fuckin course   
CA: somehow i dont believe that.   
CC: well you shoald   
CA: if anythings wrong you know you can tell me  
CA: right?  
CA: i may not be the best bro and you may not like me all that much but im still here for you.  
CA: id say family has to stick together but obviously our parents didnt.  
CA: but im pretty sure you catch my drift.   
CC: yeah   
CA: good.  
CA: now onto my question   
CC: oh would you look at that   
CA: what is it now?   
CC: somefin more important than this conversation

\-- causticCondescension [CC] ceased pestering casanovaAccoustic [CA] at 13:43 --

CA: come the fuck on

Smooth. Anyway, now that the conversation is done and she's busy ignoring Cronus’ next messages, she can briefly reflect on the pesterchats she had earlier. She's practically been woken up by Cronus’ texts about Eridan and his “dream”, which she refused to see as concern on Cronus’ part even though her flirting theory is now proven wrong. Then came the mention of Mituna, a brief chat with him, and then a long arduous chat with the rest of the people who seem to remember. It was tough to reign everybody in, but it was all part of the job as a leader. Speaking of reigning people in…

Meenah stands up from her chair and cracks her knuckles. There's work she needs to do today instead of thinking about her recent totally-not-mistakes. She grabs her phone and makes a pit stop by her mirror. She had gotten dressed right after breakfast, between her first pesterchats with Cronus and Mituna, and now she's wearing a stylish crop top and skinny jeans. The top has a logo that's probably for a band of some sort, but she doesn’t care. It's pink on black and close enough to her blood color to suit her preferences.

After she finishes checking herself out (her black hair and braids sadly aren't as long as they used to be, but that's okay), she opens the door to her room and leaves. She lives in a place very similar to Eridan’s, being that they're both mansions on a forested lakeside with way too much expensive stuff lining the halls inside of them. Unknown to Meenah, since she hasn't taken the time to look out any windows, the two mansions are on opposite sides of the lake and easily viewable to each other. Their many windows face each other in a way that suggests that their owners’ regularly watch the other house. However, Meenah is the star of the show, not the mansions.

She finds her way downstairs relatively easily. She’s been downstairs before, but even still, the layout is still strangely intuitive to her despite the fact that it's devilishly maze-like to anyone else. Whether that intuition is from some forgotten muscle memory from another Meenah or from the fact that the mansion almost seems to be styled after her own hive, she can’t tell, but it's handy either way. Any delay risks the loss of valuable information.

Valuable information being anything she can glean from the human Condescension. She saw the woman during breakfast on her way out of the building and instantly knew something was off. Meenah expected confidence to radiate from the older woman, even from someone with no memory of being the powerful ruler of a powerful empire, but instead she almost seemed cornered and wary. Like she had to leave to do something she wished she didn’t have to do. Then Roxy mentioned seeing her out and, even though no location was given, it's solid evidence that she can be found. With luck, Meenah can run into her and spy on her from afar.

Luckily, luck seems to be on Meenah’s side. Neither hide nor hair can be seen of Feferi, which means zero delays for Meenah. It's easy to find the entrance and head out, though another problem quickly makes itself known. Walking down the long well-paved driveway is easy, but which direction should she take to get to wherever the Condescension is now? How far is it? She doesn’t even know if her ancestor is in a city or some sort of rural area, and she doubts Roxy would be open for questioning. There's that online map that Jade gave the memo but it still wouldn’t tell her which direction the woman is in…

While Meenah is wondering what to do, a rumbling noise sounds from a bend down the road. She raises an eyebrow and peers in the direction of the sound just in time to see a black scuttlebuggy trundling down the road. Car, not scuttlebuggy, she reminds herself, though she's more preoccupied by a feeling of satisfaction. Humans are much more friendly than trolls. She would have no problem waving the driver over, and from there stealing the car should be easy.

Except, before she can even wave, the car pulls over towards the driveway Meenah is standing on. She quickly steps back to give the vehicle room and watches as it slows to a stop in front of her. She can’t see the driver through the dark tinted windows and that bothers her. Is it Feferi? Human Condesce? Cronus? Some random person that wants to try to take advantage of her? Meenah doesn’t like this one bit.

She likes it even less when the driver rolls his window down. Adults in the Beforian Empire were less dangerous than those in the Alternian one, plus there was the fact that Meenah was (and is) an heiress who is very competent at defending herself. However, she still feels an instinctual fear when she comes face to face with the human version of Dualscar. Ancestors, human or not, are something worth being wary of.

“Meenah,” he greets with a nod of his head. He glances towards the house behind her and she wonders if he's looking for something. Someone? “You don’t usually leave the house so early.”

“Today’s different,” Meenah answers automatically. She’ll remember that fact about her human self for later, but for now, there's no use dragging shit out. “Looking for someone?”

A brief expression of surprise flashes across Dualscar’s face but it's quickly replaced by a good-natured smile. “Always straight to the point with you. Yeah, I’m looking for someone. Is your mom home?”

That's interesting. “Nah, she’s not. She left a while ago.”

The adult curses under his breath and sits back in his seat. His fingers tap the steering wheel in irritation and Meenah can’t help but wonder why he wants to see her so bad. But if it's that urgent… “Have any idea where she might be?” the teen ventures.

Dualscar glances her way. “Course I do.”

Even more interesting. He bit the hook, now time to see if she can reel him in. “Cool, ‘cause I was hoping to see her.”

One of his eyebrows raises considerably. “And it couldn’t wait until she came back?”

“Nope,” she says. “Important business and she isn’t answering.” Meenah didn’t actually try calling or messaging her in case her ancestor remembered like she does, but Dualscar doesn’t need to know that. Just like he doesn’t need to know that she has no intention of properly visiting the Condesce.

Luckily he seems to believe her. “Typical,” he sighs. “Well I’ll take you there if you want to go. Just hop in.”

Dualscar unlocks the car while she walks around to get into the passenger's side. Once in, a quick glance at him makes her realize that she should probably put her seatbelt on. Y’know, pretend to be a normal human. The car begins to roll forward and she sits back, figuring she may as well get comfy for the ride. There's no telling how long this is going to take.

She keeps herself busy by stealing glances at the ancestor-turned-human, but she isn’t doing it because of his appearance. Something is off with him. It might be the fact that his greeting seemed to imply that he knew her habits, but it's more likely the way that he glances at her every now and then during the drive. Eventually the two of them lock eyes and he clears his throat.

“So, uh,” Dualscar begins. Then he stops and looks back at the road to try again. “I know we haven’t exactly had the best relationship after me and your mom broke up.”

Meenah really doesn’t know, but she's getting good at pretending. “Mhm.”

“But I don’t see why we can’t…” The adult trails off, his fingers tapping on the wheel again. It seems like a nervous tick. “I don’t see why we can’t be close again. Maybe not as father and daughter, but as friends?”

She raises an eyebrow at him. This isn’t where she thought this was heading but then again, she doesn’t know everything about human culture.

Dualscar notices her look and laughs, his voice tinged with self-deprecation. “I don’t even know if you teenagers do that. It could be a taboo or something and I’m here making a fool of myself.”

She decides to step in a little. She doesn’t know if it's taboo or not, but she _does_ know that it's one more connection to help her learn more about this world. The more she knows, the better plans she csn make to get herself out of there. “Hey, it’s cool. I’ll be your friend.”

He seems pleasantly surprised. “Oh really? That’s- That’s great. Thank you.”

Meenah shrugs. “It’s nothing.”

“Well,” he continues without hearing her, “if we’re friends you can’t exactly call me dad anymore. And I know how awkward you get with that.”

Oh. This is an opportunity to see if Dualscar has a title like an ancestor does or a name like a human does, and Meenah is all for that. “So what do you suggest?”

“My first name. I know it’s odd, but you’re only two years away from being an adult and you can’t call everyone by their last name for forever…”

“Get on with it.”

“Right, right. Call me Cedric.”

Cedric? That's maybe a troll name but it's definitely not Cronus, the name he normally would’ve had. Just how much are the ancestors affected? She'll have to look into that when she finds her own ancestor, but for now, the conversation. “Will do.”

Cedric nods and keeps driving. He looks much more relaxed now; a tension that Meenah didn’t notice before is gone from his shoulders and hands. If the words they just exchanged are any indication, he cares about her just like a lusus would. Karkat was right about human parents and that makes her wonder just how susceptible they would be to coercion from their charges. Or “children”, as humans call them. Can she somehow use Cedric and even her own ancestor? That's yet another thing to look into.

Speaking of looking into things, there's one more question that's bugging her. He mentioned that she was two years away from being an adult which, if her information on humans is correct, means that she's 16. Is Cronus the same way? What about Eridan? Depending on how old they are and how different human maturity is from troll maturity, age differences could lead to some serious problems down the road.

“Hey Cedric,” she starts, and he lets out a questioning hum. Hopefully this won’t cause too much suspicion. “How old are we, again?”

There's a pause. “We?”

“Your children.”

There's another, longer pause. This time he ends it with a small laugh. “Forgot how old Eridan was?”

“Sure.”

“He’s 16, the youngest.”

Wait a second. That doesn’t sound right. “And I’m?”

“16? The oldest?”

“How much older am I than Eridan?”

“I dunno. A few years.”

That _definitely_ doesn’t sound right. “And how old are others?”

“What’s with all the questions?”

“Just testing you. How old are they?”

“16 and 16. Cronus is a few years older than Feferi, like you and Eridan.”

“So we’re all 16.”

Cedric pauses. “No.”

Meenah turns to look at him, her gaze calculating. “How old are we?”

His brows furrow like he knows something's wrong. “16, 16, 16, and 16. From youngest to oldest.”

“That sounds like we’re all the same age.”

“No, you’re not. You’re all different.”

“You just said the same number for each of us.”

Cedric glances at her and, for a second, he looks wide-eyed with concern and realization. Then his expression suddenly goes blank and he returns his gaze to the road. There's no answer.

A chill creeps up Meenah’s spine. “Cedric?”

“Hm?”

“What were you saying?”

“I was telling you to call me by my first name.”

Oh fuck. Meenah sits back in her seat as alarm bells sound in her head. The ride is suddenly much less comfortable. Whatever just happened isn’t natural, especially not whatever happened to make him forget the age discussion. She quickly checks her phone and sees that she still can’t respond to the memo. With a glance at Cedric, she quickly pesters Mituna to ask him to let her back in. He doesn’t respond, so she pesters Karkat. No response. Then Eridan. Nothing there either. She scrolls back up in the memo to find the handles of Jade and Roxy to pester them too, but there's no response from either of them.

Meenah eventually lowers her phone, her knuckles white from how hard she's clutching it. Is their lack of reply connected to Cedric’s sudden loss of memory or is it just a coincidence? Whatever it is, she wants out of this car. Now. She looks out the window and sees that she's in some sort of suburb. This will have to do.

“Hey Cedric,” she starts. She tries, somewhat unsuccessfully, to keep the desperation out of her voice. “I just remembered that a friend wanted me to come over. Can you pull over? They’re really close.”

Cedric blinks in surprise but dutifully starts to look for a place to pull over. “Oh, sure. Do you need me to come by later to pick you up?” he asks. Either he doesn’t notice her slight desperation or he chooses to ignore it.

“I’m good. Really.”

He pulls over next to the sidewalk. “If you say so.”

Meenah simply nods, unbuckles herself, and gets the fuck out of the car. She doesn’t look behind her as she walks down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of where said car was going. She doesn’t want anything to do with it or Cedric ever again if she can help it. Then she pauses. She can’t let fear rule her like this. She's a leader for a reason; she's supposed to run towards it.

She glances behind her to see the car already vanishing behind a turn in the road. She'll run towards her fear soon enough. For now she has to figure some things out. Things such as Cedric’s possible connection to this new world and what that might spell for the people who remember the game. Things such as Cedric’s connection to her ancestor and why said ancestor is acting so fishy. Things such as why only six specific people remember and why she can’t contact any of them after what happened to Cedric.

Most of all, she has to find a way out of there.

* * *

CG: SO DID EVERYONE ELSE GET SEVERAL MESSAGES FROM MEENAH TELLING US THAT SHE NEEDED TO GET INTO THE MEMO?   
TA: Y34H   
CA: i got them too   
CG: DO YOU TWO THINK I SHOULD ANSWER?   
CA: i didnt  
CA: shes prolly just gonna yell at us wwhen she gets back on here   
TA: 5H35 1N 7H1M3 0U7 F0R 4 R3450N 4ND 5H35 57H4Y1NG 7H47 W4Y   
CG: I WISH YOU’D TELL US WHY.   
TA: Y0U D0N7 W4N7 M3 70   
CA: i do   
TA: Y34H  
TA: 4ND Y0UR3 57HUP1D   
CA: ouch

* * *

It's some time after Roxy had her little (embarrassing) freak out. She doesn’t want to think about it. Everyone was super concerned, they asked her what was up, she lied and played their games until she thought they forgot about it, yadda yadda yadda. She wants to move on and forget it ever happened. Except, oh wait, once everyone went home from their little playdate Roxy was smushed back into the Strilonde van and taken to an early dinner in an attempt to cheer her up. She might appreciate it more if it wasn’t for the fact that she just wants to curl up, coupled with the fact that she's still sorely unused to crowds.

To her, seven other people is definitely a crowd. The Strilonde family is seated at a place called Five Guys. Around her are people she recognizes: Dirk, Rose, and Dave. Then there's four others she doesn’t recognize. She met two of them at breakfast, Rosaline and Roxanne, who she quickly learned are her older sisters and legal guardians. Then two others arrived shortly after that, Derrick and David, her two older brothers and the legal guardians of the Striders. To make things weirder, Derrick and David look like older copies of Dirk and Dave respectively and it's the same for Rosaline and Roxanne with Rose and Roxy herself. Apparently they all have the same mom and dad, though where they are now, Roxy couldn't care less.

It's a shame, really, that she isn’t in any sort of mood to be her playful and energetic self. It might’ve made pretending that she's perfectly fine and having a fun time so much easier. She doesn’t miss the worried glances everyone sends her way. The Lalondes are the worst culprits, though that's most likely due to the fact that Rose (and Rosaline) are experts at reading people. Luckily, thinks Roxy, even experts can fail. She would beat them yet.

“Oh shit, that’s our number,” Derrick says, breaking Roxy out of her thoughts. She watches as he gets up and goes to the counter to grab three large paper bags from a worker.

David practically snorts at the sight of them. “Oh my god. That’s a lot of food.”

“Do you really expect anything less of us?” Rose adds.

“I’d hope not after last time’s mistake,” Dave snickers. “That was a mess.”

Rosaline leans forward, smiling deviously. “I seem to recall that it was mostly your doing.”

Roxanne snorts. “I still remember the look on Dirk’s face.”

Dirk raises an eyebrow at her. “Which one?”

This is already starting to overwhelm Roxy. She sits back and feigns a smile, desperately hoping that they're too busy talking to each other to focus on her. Even when she's at her best she can only handle three or four people tops. Seven others makes her head spin. She may have grown up in the middle of a bustling island of carapacians, but at least they rarely talked. Humans are another matter entirely. So chatty, so loud, so overwhelming, so-

“Here we are,” Derrick announces. He's back at the table and pulling burgers out of the bags to set in front of the appropriate people. “Eight burgers and a fuckton of fries.”

David takes the fries and one of the now empty bags to pour them all into it. “Hell yes.”

Roxy watches as the others unwrap their burgers and she quickly does the same. She ordered the plainest burger available, which earned her more than a few stares from the Strilondes. But she had no idea what half of the extras even were and she figured that she might as well let her stomach have some time to get used to something other than pumpkins, canned foods, and confectioneries. It was weird enough during breakfast; she doesn’t need to risk anything else today.

She takes a hesitant bite while she watches everyone else at the table. Once all the fries are in the bag, David salts the whole thing and shakes it around to let the salt get on every fry. When he finishes and turns to his own burger, the other Striders immediately reach for the bag. What ensues is a battle of hands that has David and Rosaline snickering to themselves.

Everyone seems so comfortable with each other. Then there's Roxy, the outcast. Or at least she feels like one. She tries her best not to sigh as she slowly eats her food. If she's going to stop being the odd one out, she'll have to get in the game and start acting like her old self. Starting with actually communicating with the people around her.

“So Dirk,” she starts, only to pause for a moment as she figures out what to say. “How’s life been for you?”

It isn’t the best start and Dirk seems surprised at the sudden conversation, but he smiles and answers her anyway. “It’s been going pretty good. Spring break is giving me a lot of opportunities to work on my projects.”

Dave groans. “He’s been spending every day locked up in his room. He barely comes out to eat!”

Roxy smiles a little. This time it's genuine; she knows exactly how Dirk can get when he's focused on something. It's nice to have something so similar in this new game. “That sounds like him.”

Dirk rolls his eyes at his younger brother (though Dave doesn’t look too much younger than him. It was like they're the same age). “How’s life for you? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

Roxy can practically feel the attention coming from everyone else at the crowded table. In her current state of mine, it's all she can do to keep herself from shrinking back. “Oh, you know,” she says with fake casualness. “The typical projects.”

Dirk almost looks suspicious. “What kind of projects?”

That Roxy stumps for a second. What kind of projects would she be working on? Hacking and making extremely poor attempts at drawing, mostly, but is that what their Roxy would do? Or… Oh! People her age are supposed to go to school, right? “School projects. I thought they would be easy but they’re kicking my ass.”

Score. No one seems to doubt her explanation, and in fact Roxanne even looks sympathetic. “Oh yeah,” the adult groans. “School. It’s a bitch like that.”

Roxy nods and takes another bite of her burger. Dave and Rose share their griefs with school projects but she finds that she's paying more attention to Rosaline instead. The older woman, though she tries to hide it, still seems slightly suspicious. She's a woman Roxy has to be careful about in the future. That means no more freak outs for Roxy. She's going to be strong and resilient for herself and the others who remember!

It's that thought that makes Roxy’s shoulders lift and her expression change slightly into something more determined. She still isn’t okay, but she's going to be. Rosaline seems to catch this subtle change in demeanor if the slight raise of her eyebrow is any indication, but the woman only turns back to her meal. Hopefully this means that Roxy isn’t going to get bugged about any earlier incidents.

However, that hope quickly dies out. Once the burgers are eaten and the fries are almost gone, Roxy glances around the table again to find Rose staring directly at her.

“What’s up?” Roxy asks her. The dread inside her stomach grows as Rose sighs.

“I’m afraid you already know. I’m worried about you.”

Across from her, Dave lets out a nearly identical sigh and crumples up his napkin. “What happened earlier just isn’t normal.”

“But it totally is,” Roxy insists. She falls back on the lie she told back at the park. It's shitty, but it was the first thing she could think of. “One of my favorite bands is breaking apart and I really liked them!”

“No,” Dirk interjects. He looks serious. “I’m not going to waste my time disputing the fact that you like music for its genre, not for the band. I’m not even going to get into the fact that I looked up almost any band you would like and none of them were breaking apart. No, I’m disputing the fact that your reaction was in any way appropriate for that situation.”

Rosy hesitates but Dirk doesn’t seem to want to continue and no one else looks like they're going to talk. Silence is one of the things she hates most. “Your point..?”

“You looked _scared_ , Roxy. At most you would be distraught over a band breaking up. But scared? That’s something else.”

She glances around the table and sees unyielding, concerned faces. Damnit. She has to think of something else.

“Roxy,” Rosaline urges, her hand moving to grasp Roxy’s, “you know you can tell us anything.”

Roxy meets the woman’s gaze. There's only concern there. It almost makes her tear up - she's the mother Roxy never had. And it's in that moment that she comes up with a plan and _lets_ herself tear up. She hangs her head and her hand grasps at her pants. It looks convincing enough to be the real thing. “Yeah, I do,” she murmurs.

David is on her other side. His hand grasps her shoulder reassuringly. “What happened?”

Roxy sniffles and reaches up to wipe at her eyes despite the lack of any proper crying. “There’s this girl at school. I never even saw her before but I guess she decided that she hated me. She would keep threatening me and calling me names. I kept thinking that she’d go away but then she got a hold of my pesterchum and started messaging me.” Roxy glances up at the others at the table. They seem totally convinced, but she isn’t done yet. “Then when I was at the park she messaged me again. She said that she knew where I lived and that she followed me out there, and that she was going to hurt the rest of you too.”

Their faces instantly change. They look angry now, though Derrick’s and Roxanne’s expressions were more murderous. It's interesting to see how they react. Dirk and Rose sit back and glance at each other like they're already planning to get back at the fake bully. Dave’s mouth is practically open with shock. David and Rosaline’s fingers curl and Roxy could practically feel the tension radiating from the hand on her shoulder. Derrick’s murderous expression slowly slides of his face with deceptive calm, but Roxanne still looks as angry as ever.

“Are you serious!?” she fumes. “Who the fuck even does that?”

Rose’s gaze slides back to Roxy. “Apparently someone at her school.”

“I’m curious to know who she is,” Dirk adds.

With a slight tilt of his head, Derrick gestures his chin towards Roxy. “What’s her pesterchum?”

“Actually,” Rosaline interrupts, “I want more than her pesterchum. I want to know exactly what she said to you.”

Roxy blinks a couple times at that. She didn’t think that far ahead, but she knows the others will press until they get some sort of fake pesterchum conversation. Then something hits her. She and Jade both got messages from Meenah as they were leaving the park, but when she saw that the messages looked a little threatening, Roxy convinced her friend not to respond to them. Those might be able to work. Besides, she ended up loosely basing her story off of the Condesce. If anyone can fit that role it's Meenah. “Sure,” she says, and digs into her pocket for her phone. “I deleted a lot of the earlier conversations from my end so I wouldn’t have to look at them, but she sent some messages while I was on my way over here.”

Roxanne takes her phone almost immediately after Roxy opens up the conversation. From the look on her face, Meenah fills the role of bully perfectly.

\-- causticCondescension [CC] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] at 14:52 --

CC: cod fuckin damnit beach you betta respond to me  
CC: roxy  
CC: look im usin your name  
CC: fuckin roxy  
CC: i know youre seain this shit  
CC: damnit do you want me apologize cause you shoald know that i wont  
CC: what i said wasnt even that bad i can go much worse  
CC: are you seariously not respondin  
CC: when i meet you im goin to fuckin make you respond  
CC: teach you a coddamn lesson  
CC: fuck  
CC: get back to me later alright

\-- causticCondescension [CC] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] at 14:59 --

Rosaline leans to read over Roxanne’s shoulder. Then the phone gets passed around so anyone who wants to read it can, which ends up being everyone else at the table. Roxy sits back and tries not to look smug. It turns out Meenah is useful after all, though Roxy can’t help but feel a bit bad for her. Based on everyone’s reactions, they’ll be giving the other girl hell for a while.

Finally the phone is passed back to Roxy and she quickly stuffs it in her pocket again. She notices Dirk already texting on his phone and feels another small wave of sympathy despite herself. Thankfully, David’s voice interrupts her before she can think too hard about that feeling.

“That girl is a piece of work.”

“Certainly,” Rose adds as she takes her phone out too. “Her handle even fits her character.”

Dave picks up his napkin and starts to tear small pieces off. “Shit, I can’t believe anyone would say that stuff to you. What gives?”

Roxy shrugs. “I don’t know. Some people are just mean.”

Derrick shakes his head as he gets up to gather the trash and throw it out. “Fuck ‘em.”

Rosaline sighes as she pushes her chair back to get up. “I just wish you had told us sooner. We could’ve kept it from escalating to this level.”

Everyone else starts to get up too, so Roxy takes that as her cue to get up as well. “Sorry. Thought I could handle it myself.”

Rosaline gives her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before moving over to pull Rose’s and Dirk’s phones out of their hands. She ignores their protests as she turns to the rest of the group. “Shall we?”

“Yes please,” David agrees. “I have work to do tomorrow.”

Derrick snorts and came over to wrap an arm around David’s shoulders. “Like staying at home and watching cat videos?”

“Excuse you, that’s very important work for the movie I might be directing!”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure of it.”

The group heads towards the exit after that. No one is forgetting Roxy’s story, but it's pushed to the back of their minds for the moment as they laugh and joke with each other. She can’t help but notice the dichotomy between how they're acting now and how they acted when she told her lie, but she isn’t surprised. The same thing would happen back when she and Dirk were on their flooded Earth

Roxy glances around the group only to notice that there's one member that isn’t joking along with the others. Roxanne keeps up with everyone else but she doesn’t seem to be paying attention to them in the slightest. Instead, her expression is thoughtful. Like she's making some connection the others didn’t. Roxy notices this and keeps an eye on her, but the older woman doesn’t say anything as the group loads themselves back into the van. Rosaline also seems to notice but she doesn’t ask.

Once everyone is safely crowded into the van (and once Roxy remembers how seatbelts work), Derrick drives them out of the parking lot and back towards the Lalonde house. The Lalondes and Striders live separately; the girls staying in the suburbs while the guys live in the city. The Striders came to pick the Lalondes up earlier so they could all head to the park, but now that the day’s activities are over, they're heading back to drop the Lalondes off.

The trip back gives Roxy some time to think. She's already feeling better about earlier, though she's still a ways off from being totally fine again. Thankfully, her uncomfortableness about being around so many people is getting slightly better. She doesn’t know if it's because she's getting a bit used to it or because her mood is lighter, but whichever's the case, she's glad for it. It makes the ride home much more comfortable than the ride there.

It also makes the ride shorter, she quickly realizes, as she looks out a window to see that the van is almost at the Lalonde’s house. Dirk also seems to notice this and he asks to have his phone back. Rosaline rolls her eyes but smiles as she gives Dirk and Rose their phones back just in time for the van to pull into the driveway.

“Don’t be too harsh on her,” she says. “Save some for the rest of us.”

Rose smiles deviously. “If you insist.”

The car rolls to a stop and Derrick leans back to look at everyone in the seats behind him. “Alright kids, playdate’s over.”

“Awwww,” David whines, “but we had so much fun!”

Roxanne snickers. She's out of her thoughts long enough to play along and say goodbye. “Yeah. Just five more minutes?”

Rosaline rolls her eyes. “You two sound like you’re still twelve.”

Dave groans and lets his head fall back against the headrest. “You guys do this every time.”

Rose sets her phone down after she finishes her latest message. “Then I’ll take the hint and get out. We all know they won’t move until someone else does.”

“Aww, okay,” he says. “See you when school starts up again.”

Rose smiles at him as she gently shoves Roxy to get her attention. Startled, Roxy quickly unbuckles herself and opens the door to get out. Rose follows behind her and waves to Dave. “I’ll see you then.”

Once Rose and Roxy are out, it doesn’t take long for Rosaline and Roxanne to bid farewell to their brothers and climb out of the car too. The vehicle pulls back out of the driveway as the siblings wave to each other. Once it pulls away, Roxanne sighs to herself and rubs her forehead.

“I need to check some things.”

Rosaline frowns slightly but nods. “Understandable, but don’t stay up too late. I’d rather not be forced to drag you back to your bed for the third time this week.”

The other woman laughs and starts to head for the front door. “Yeah, yeah. I promise I won’t stay up until three am.”

Rosaline rolls her eyes and follows her sister. “You said that the last few times.”

“And you dragged me back before it was three. Check and mate.”

“Fine. I’ll let you stay up all night.”

“Please don’t. I have work tomorrow.”

Rosaline smirks and makes her way in front of Roxanne to unlock the door. “I thought so.”

Rose follows the two older sisters and Roxy quickly goes along with her. Hopefully this means that Roxy will be able to have some time to herself. That would make it much easier for her to call a meeting in the park and slip away unnoticed. She enters the foyer with the rest of the Lalondes and Roxanne immediately leaves to head towards the basement door. Rosaline takes one step onto the stairs and turns to the younger sisters.

“I’ll be in my room if either of you need me, as usual.”

Rose smiles. “Of course. We’ll get you if we need you.”

Rosaline smiles back and turns to walk up the rest of the stairs. Only Rose and Roxy are left. Rose sends another quick message to Meenah before putting her phone away. She looks as though she's going to say something, so before she can give Roxy any sort of obligation to do anything else, Roxy interrupts her.

“I should probably head off to my room. Y’know, school projects and stuff.”

Rose raises an eyebrow but nods. “Alright. I would follow the trend and be in my room as well, but I’d rather watch the movie Dave recommended to us.”

Roxy nods back, suddenly feeling worried about the movie. Is she supposed to watch it too? She really wishes she has more information about whatever version of her she apparently replaced. Sadly, it's too late for her to back out now. “Cool. I’ll watch that tomorrow.”

“I’ll be sure to spoil everything for you.”

Roxy groans. Hopefully the other version of herself hates spoilers as much as she does. “Ugh, no! Why do you have to be like this?”

Rose smirks. “Because I can be. Now,” she says as she heads towards the living room, “I best be off before Dave can spam me with complaints. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, later,” Roxy agrees. She rushes up the stairs as soon as Rose is out of sight, thankful that she's been let off so easily. From there it's easy to find her room. The house isn’t that big and she _did_ wake up there. She opens her door and enters the comforting darkness of her bedroom. Then she closes her door again and leans against it with a happy sigh.

Finally she's alone. She loves people, she really does, but sometimes they just get to be too much. Then Roxy groans softly. She can’t escape people just yet. She still has to meet five of them later, though she hopes that they won’t drain her energy too much. Then again, there's only one way to tell.

But there's something else to do before she can call a meeting. Roxy flips the lights on and reveals a small but comfortable room. The bed is messy and the desk and dresser are cluttered with papers and nicknacks, but they don’t bother her in the slightest. She tiptoes her way around some of the stuffed animals on the floor to flop down on her bed and take her phone out. She doesn’t want to do this, but she knows that it's important to at least check in. For the group, if nothing else.

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] began pestering causticCondescension [CC] at 17:46 --

TG: hey   
CC: holy shit   
TG: quick thing   
CC: no i need to ask you somefin   
TG: if its not about the sudden storm of messages youve prolly been getting then i dont want to hear it right now  
TG: save it for the meeting   
CC: you know about that   
TG: yeah  
TG: im kinda the cause of it   
CC: what the shell did you do   
TG: well i kind of freaked out a little after i left the memo  
TG: and my family noticed  
TG: fuck its so weird to say that i have a family   
CC: and   
TG: well they were worried and they didnt buy my first excuse  
TG: so i gave em a second excuse   
CC: did you pin it on me   
TG: i pinned it on some random girl at school threatening me but then they wanted her handle and they wanted to see the conversation so i told em that i deleted the earlier ones but i still had to show em something so i showed them the messages u sent earlier about wanting to talk to me and now like 7 people think u threatened me and also them and theyre angry   
CC: beach  
CC: the fuck   
TG: i had to do something and ur the person i care about the least right now so   
CC: look i get the not likin me part but you didnt have to set seven rabid humans on me   
TG: call them rabid again i dare you   
CC: calm the shell down  
CC: look fuck you but lets move past that right now  
CC: you saw my messages earlier   
TG: of course i did   
CC: are you fuckin searious   
TG: jfc what is it now   
CC: i thought some weird shit was going on cause no one was answerin  
CC: but no everyone was fuckin IGNORIN me   
TG: sorry to hear about that   
CC: you arent   
TG: no im not   
CC: thought so  
CC: anywave can you tell the memo people to let me back in i have some very important info to share   
TG: you can do that urself when we meet   
CC: come the fuck on its urgent   
TG: good   
CC: B-EAC)(   
TG: im calling the meeting now   
CC: oh  
CC: at least thats somefin   
TG: it is  
TG: now come over to the park nd ill get the memo people in on this

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] ceased pestering causticCondescension [CC] at 17:58 --

Now that 's done, Roxy stands back up and makes her way over to the window. She's on the second story of the house, but part of the roof is right outside. It will be no problem to get onto it and-

Oh. She could fly back at the game, so why can’t she fly now? Roxy smiles at that thought, but she won’t test it quite so soon. First she has to get out of the house. Jade mentioned being able to teleport people so Roxy is pretty confident that her powers have also carried over from the game. She stares at the window and wills herself to sink into the void. When the familiar cool feeling surrounds her, she reaches out, and her hand passes right through the glass. Roxy grins and walks all the way through the window and out onto the roof. Hell yes.

From there it's easy enough to float down onto the grass of the yard. She glances around to confirm that no one saw her and takes out her phone to check the location of the park. It isn’t _too_ far away. With one quick message to the memo, she tucks her phone away and sets off running.

* * *

TG: stop what youre doing and head to the park we got a meeting to see out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five Guys is the best and no one can dispute me on this.
> 
> Anyway, there we go! Another chapter! I hope all of you enjoyed it even if it’s around half of the length of the previous one! Despite that, it has some pretty interesting stuff if I do say so myself. What could be going on?
> 
> Stay tuned for 4/13. I’ll be posting a mini chapter that I think will be pretty interesting~
> 
> And so no one’s confused:  
> Dualscar = Cedric  
> Bro = Derrick  
> Alpha Dave = David  
> Mom = Roxanne  
> Alpha Rose = Rosaline


	4. Introductions and Conversations Pt.3 [ARC END]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, it's been a while! And it's going to be a while again. I'm going to be a counselor in training until August 10th and there's pretty limited phone use, so there's not going to be any updates for at least a month! But hey, hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter. It's the end of the introductory arc!
> 
> Also I pretty much made a language specifically for this fic. I don't know why I did that to myself but it's here now.
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: The Meanwhile chapters are now in a separate fic. They were posted before this chapter in this order: [Meanwhile: A Light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966234/chapters/49850909) and [Meanwhile: An Island](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966234/chapters/49851107)
> 
> I recommend you read them. They're not long and will start to become important.

Mituna hasn’t exactly had the best experiences during his existence. There were the times he got yelled at for things he couldn’t control, the times people made fun of him, and the times he just couldn’t stand his lisp (in his eyes even lisping s’s would be better. But t’s? Maybe he only hates it because he’s the one doing it, but still). Oh, and who could forget the time Cronus broke up with him? Or the time even Kankri got tired of working around his bullshit “disability”? Or how about…

Well. He doesn’t talk about his accident.

Besides, despite the number of shitty experiences he’s lived through, this is certainly not one of them. He’s seated at a lively table, a rare grin on his face despite how crowded it is with the three other adults and five other children. He’s pretty sure the adults are the Signless, the Disciple, and the Psionic, but for some reason they keep calling each other Kelvin, Lenore, and Dexter respectively. He knows Kankri and Meulin already and he’s heard of Nepeta and Sollux (the later he got to talk to earlier in the day). Then of course there’s Karkat himself, sitting at the head of the table with a shitty party hat on his head and the most murderous expression on his face.

Mituna almost snickers at the sight. Karkat blows some of his uncontrollable black hair out of his face and glares at him. That just makes it harder not to laugh.

Thankfully The Disciple (should he call her mom? Lenore?) raises her voice above the chattering of the rest of the kids and covers up the small giggle that manages to escape him. Karkat still notices, however, and his eyes narrow.

“Alright everybody!” she says. Mituna figures he’ll call her mom just so he’s less likely to keep correcting himself if he talks to the others. “We all know what time it is.”

Kankri signs the words to translate for Meulin. Can this version of her read lips? Then again lipreading is never a precise art, so signing makes sense. Once he’s done with that he starts to stand up only to have The Psionic (Dexter? Dad? Dad 2?) gently push him back down with a hand on his shoulder.

“Let me do it,” he says, and squeezes around the Signless to exit the room. Damnit, Mituna really needs to know what he should call them. Which one’s dad? Which one’s dad 2? He hopes the ancestor (or “guardian”) related to him is dad 2. That would be rad.

Meanwhile Karkat looks as grumpy as he was a few seconds ago. Mituna can’t really blame him. They came downstairs to eat dinner and leave only for Karkat to get ambushed with a party after the plates were cleared. Now he’s here and not at all happy about it. “So why,” Karkat asks, “do we even need to do this at all?” Kankri translates again.

“Because,” Sollux starts, lisping his s’s like always, “it’s your birthday. We need to celebrate it.”

“Yeah!” adds Nepeta. “And you’re the baby of the family. Who else are we going to spoil?”

Karkat obviously does not like being called the baby. “I don’t fucking know. How about yourselves? You could’ve used all the money you presumably spent on me and used it for yourselves instead. But nooo, you just  _ have _ to  _ spoil _ me. Who else is going to pay for what you want now, fuckers? Not me. I’m actually smart with my money.”

Kankri sighs and rolls his eyes. It catches Mituna off guard, considering he’s so used to pupil-less white eyes. “Maybe we  _ want _ to buy you things,” he says. He’s signing effortlessly as he speaks, so he must be used to this. “Maybe you come before us and the things we want, at least on your birthday.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard all day,” Karkat disputes.

Meulin finally decides to speak. She’s naturally louder than the rest, but Mituna is used to it. “Stupid or not, it’s the truth.”

The Psionic - Mituna will call him dad 2 - comes back into the room with a cake delicately placed in his hands. Fuck yes, it looks like chocolate. “Is Karkat being stupid again?”

“Yup,” Signless - dad - answers as he reaches to turn the lights off. The candles on the cake glow brightly as dad 2 sets it down in front of Karkat. For a moment, Mituna’s caught up in the way the candles illuminate Karkat’s face. It takes him back to the nights he spent listening to the stories Meenah used to tell, when she would aim the light of her shellphone at her face to make everything just a little spookier. Karkat’s eyes glint in a way that reminds him of her, and that dichotomy between good memories and a bad present makes him tense for a moment, expecting the scales to tip in his head. Only they don’t, and he’s okay. He’s been okay since he got here. No more death, no more game, no more balancing act.

A snap back to the present. Karkat blows his candles out and the lights turn on, making Mituna cringe and blink for a moment. Everyone claps and he normally wouldn’t join, but what the hell, he claps along anyway if only to annoy Karkat just a little bit more. It’s nice being the one to press buttons for a change.

“So, KK,” Sollux smirks. “How about you cut the cake this time?”

Karkat starts to protest, but mom shushes him and hands him the cake cutter. He glares at her for a moment before huffing and standing up to get a better angle. “I hope none of you want cake, because you’re all getting the tiniest fucking pieces.”

“But Karkitty,” Meulin starts, batting her eyelashes. “Then we’d want more of them and you’d have to keep cutting them.”

Karkat stares at her for a moment before making his first slice. “How many of us are there? Nine? I’m making this into nine pieces and none of you can stop me.”

Kankri gives Meulin a hard stare that seems to ask her why she subjected them all to this, but she only grins back at him. Meanwhile both dads are exchanging glances like they expected this, and mom has a look on her face that suggests she can’t wait to watch everyone struggle to finish their massive slices. This is no tiny cake like Mituna was used to. No, this one was gigantic. Probably so it would actually last a day or two inside a house of nine hungry mouths.

Meanwhile, Karkat is oblivious to everyone’s glances and stares as he cuts out each piece and dumps them haphazardly onto each plate mom offers him. When he’s finally done there are two plates with absolutely gigantic pieces, two with small slices, and the rest with relatively normal pieces. Karkat shoves the two huge ones towards Meulin and Sollux with a forced grin on his face. “I hope you fuckers enjoy.”

While they’re busy coming to terms with their fate, Karkat shoves a smaller slice towards Mituna, keeps the other smaller one to himself, and pushes the rest to everyone else around the table. To be honest, Mituna is more than a little surprised at that. Then again, he guesses Karkat is a little more partial to him now that he’s one of the very few he can be open with. Sadly he doesn’t know just how much Mituna fucking loves chocolate.

Instead of asking to trade slices with someone else, however, he digs into his piece and watches Sollux poke at his like he has no idea where to start. Kankri looks mildly pleased as he digs into his own slice. Meanwhile dad 2 is looking at Karkat with some degree of awe, and Karkat, entirely ignorant of him, smugly eats his own comparatively tiny piece.

With everyone silenced by the act of eating, it takes no time at all for Karkat and Mituna to finish up their small slices. Then they end up sitting there for a few seconds before both of their phones suddenly buzz at the same time. They exchange glances and Mituna ends up subtly pulling out his phone to check to see what’s happening. Oh shit, that’s Roxy, and he glances between Karkat and phone to try to communicate. Karkat just looks confused and Mituna, not knowing how the fuck to signal to him that it’s important, just keeps glancing between the two in the hopes that he’ll finally be understood. Luckily enough for him, Karkat eventually mouths ‘Roxy?’, and Mituna’s fervent nod seems to get the message across.

Karkat looks around the table and notices that everyone’s still eating their slices. Sollux is now starting to get through his, albeit slowly, while the others with more normal proportions are around halfway done. He seems to make a decision and sighs dramatically before getting up. “Goddamnit, one of my friends is having a crisis right now. I need to do damage control.”

Dad, who was already looking up from his plate for some reason (shit, did he see their communication? Does he know what’s going on?), gets a frown on his face. “Now? I know your friends are important, but it’s your birthday celebration.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’m not going to leave them hanging just because the cake is good.”

“But-”

“It’s my birthday, I get to do what I want.”

While the conversation is going on, Mituna reads exactly what Roxy just said. He also reads Jade’s subsequent responses, which amount to the fact that she’s coming over to pick him and Karkat up. Soon. He looks up and finds Karkat crossing his arms, dad looking annoyed, and everyone else not really knowing how to react to the birthday boy skipping his own party.

“Maybe-” Mituna starts, then stops again as everyone turns to look at him. Shit, he hates talking where everyone can hear him. “Maybe we can continue in the morning.”

Karkat easily takes the bait. “Yeah, what Mituna said. You all give me your presents in the morning, and I’ll fuck off now so you guys don’t have to pretend to eat cake for the rest of the evening.”

“We wouldn’t pretend-” Nepeta starts, only to get cut off.

“Yeah, you would. At least Meulin and Sollux would.”

The kids seem to accept that - and Sollux even looks relieved - though the parents don’t seem quite as easily convinced. Karkat sees that and sighs before taking his party hat off to run his hand through his hair. He successfully makes himself look both serious and apologetic all at the same time, and Mituna finds himself wishing he had anything close to those acting skills.

“Look, they’re really important to me. Their health means everything and- fuck, well, I’d rather spend my birthday knowing they’re okay.”

The adults immediately get sympathetic expressions, though mom is the only one to speak up and warn him. “Okay, sweetie. But don’t overextend yourself, alright? Take care of yourself first.”

Karkat rolls his eyes and goes to speak up, but Mituna takes that opportunity to interrupt him. He may hate it, but he needs to get out of the party too. “Actually, I’m already done and I know his friend. I can be in the chat to make sure everything goes alright.”

Dad 2 sounds surprised when he replies, but despite that, he seems pleased. “That would be nice. Thanks, Mituna.”

“Yeah, thanks,” says Karkat. “You’d actually be a big help.”

Mituna pushes his plate away before pushing his chair back and standing up. “I’m happy to help,” he beams, and he actually means it. He’s a sucker for praise, even if he knows it’s basically fake. He carefully maneuvers away from the table and its gaggle of limbs - though by carefully, he means he’s tripping over both his chair and various legs - and heads around to Karkat. Karkat, for his part, gets the fuck out of there as soon as he’s confident Mituna is right behind him.

It’s not a long walk up the stairs and into one of the first rooms. The house is bigger than what Mituna is used to, what with three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor alone, but with this many people the relative privacy each room affords is pretty nice. The room he’s in now is Karkat and Kankri’s shared bedroom. The bunk bed in the corner makes enough room for the two desks and the closet with a small amount of cleared floor space left.

Karkat stops in that empty space and turns towards Mituna, who’s closing the door behind them. “This isn’t just a matter of responding to whatever Roxy just said, is it? Was the meeting called?”

For a second Mituna’s surprised that Karkat knows, but then he realizes that Karkat’s smart, so he nods. Offering for the celebration to continue tomorrow probably tipped him off. “Yup.”

Karkat sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Of course it would be called during the one time we’d be under the most scrutiny.”

Mituna almost apologizes, but stops himself. He’d just be annoying, and he’s trying to get better about that anyway. Still, it’s a little hard to stop himself as he watches Karkat set the hat down and look out the window with an exasperated expression on his face, so he pulls his phone out instead. There’s been new messages. Meenah’s almost there, Eridan is complaining about sunset and the fact that human eyes are horrible at seeing into the lengthening shadows, and Jade responded once to say that she’s at Karkat’s house.

Speaking of her, Karkat lets out a small hiss of surprise and stumbles backwards to the sound of muffled giggling coming from outside the window. Mituna looks up from his phone and sees a girl floating outside with a wide grin on her face. He figures she’s probably Jade so he stuffs his phone in his sweatpants before coming over to stand next to Karkat, who’s opening the window to quietly tell her off.

“What the fresh fuck are you doing?” Karkat whisper yells. “Anyone can see you like this! Stop floating!”

Jade gestures around her and quietly responds. “Do you see anyone else around?”

“Windows exist Harley, and if you didn’t notice, there’s  _ lots _ of them.”

“All the lights are off.”

“That doesn’t mean jack shit at this time of night- fuck, day. Evening? I don’t know, just get down before someone sees you.”

“But then how would I talk to you?”

“There’s pesterchum! But we don’t even need to talk right now, just get us down from here.”

Jade sighs, but she’s still smiling widely. “I can’t believe I missed this.”

Karkat rolls his eyes, but now he’s looking more fond than exasperated. Mituna starts to wonder what kind of history they have. “Just do your teleporting thing already.”

“Yes sir,” Jade salutes, then giggles to herself. She floats downwards and lands carefully on the grass, then spreads her arms out in front of her. Her lips move but no sound comes out - she’s probably telling them to hold still, but given the distance and her whispering, it’s no wonder Mituna can’t hear her. He watches as her eyes unfocus and glow a faint white - then he feels something akin to being everywhere at once before being snapped back together like two magnets finally finding each other. He suddenly finds himself outside, a cool breeze flowing past and ruffling his hair, and he’s surprised there isn’t any other leftover feeling from teleportation. He takes his surrounds in for a moment: the fading light of the sun making everything glow orange, the relative silence of the neighborhood at this hour, the grass under his feet - 

Oh goddamnit, he doesn’t have shoes on. He looks over at Karkat to tell him so, but the other is already grimacing down at his feet. At least Karkat has socks on. Mituna’s bare feet are starting to dislike the feeling of the grass already and it hasn’t been more than two seconds.

“Jade,” Karkat starts, “We don’t have shoes on.”

Jade looks surprised for a second before she sticks her tongue out at him. “You should’ve thought about that before telling me to teleport you guys out already.”

“Yeah yeah,” Karkat groans. “I fucking know. Can you teleport us back in? I’ll try to get my shoes without alerting the entire family to the fact that I’m going outside.”

“Nope!”

Karkat looks at her with a face of utter betrayal. “Excuse me?”

Jade grins back at him. “You heard me!”

“You are  _ not _ just letting us walk around with no shoes on.”

“You’re right!”

That makes Karkat hesitate. “Then can we get our shoes?”

“Nope~”

He opens his mouth to argue, except Mituna has had enough of this. His time in the dream bubbles taught him not to talk unless spoken to, but he isn’t just going to sit back while they talk in circles. “Are  _ you _ going to get them?”

Jade gleefully bounces. “Yup!”

“No you’re fucking not,” Karkat interjects. “Everyone’s going to freak out about a stranger in their house and we really don’t need that.”

“I never said I was going to go into the house, silly. I can teleport things, remember?”

“Well- Yeah- But-”

“No buts! Do you actually want to go back in and explain why you’re getting your shoes?”

“... No. I don’t.”

Jade grins smugly and crosses her arms. “Then I don’t even see why you’re arguing. Come on, let’s head around front and see if they’re somewhere visible,” she says, before turning on her heel and making her way towards the front of the building. She nears a ground-floor window and Karkat opens his mouth to warn her about it, but she teleports to the other side and he closes his mouth again. Then he sighs and follows after her, crouching low under the window before popping back up once he’s clear. Mituna does the same and dutifully doesn’t complain about the itchy grass against his feet.

“You’re going to waste your energy teleporting like that,” Karkat mumbles, but Jade doesn’t even seem to hear him. She only rounds the corner and walks in front of the building. This time, when she comes across another window, she crouches down to peer over the bottom edge and into the house. She stares in for a couple of seconds before huffing and getting down lower so she’s below the window again.

“I can’t see your shoes.”

Karkat sighs like he expected no different. “So what do we do now?”

“You two wait, I’m going to try something.”

“If it involves getting inside the house, don’t fucking do it. Mituna and I will deal without them.”

“Just hold your horses,” she says, before her eyes unfocus again. Mituna shares a glance with Karkat before he awkwardly looks down at his feet instead to inspect them. He lifts them up to find a few tiny rocks stuck to the underside, so he brushes them off despite the fact that they’re probably going to stick right back on as soon as he puts his foot down. If he was still a troll, he could simply use his psionics to float above the ground. Except he isn’t a troll, and he doesn’t have his psionics anymore. It’s kind of fucking depressing, but he doesn’t think about it too much right now. He did that earlier and things didn’t go so well.

His thoughts get interrupted when Jade lets out a small “Aha!” and two pairs of shoes appear next to her. She looks them over before nodding and picking them up. Then she moves back to Mituna’s side of the window and stands up to hand the pair of yellow plastic-looking shoes to him. He gingerly takes them, wondering why the fuck they have holes all over them. Meanwhile, Jade hands a pair of normal-looking grey shoes to Karkat.

“Here you are!” she beams. The cheer doesn’t ever seem to leave her voice. “A pair of crocs for, uh, I’m guessing Mituna, and a pair of sneakers for you.”

“Thanks”, Karkat says as he looks his shoes over. “But how do you know they’re ours?”

“Simple! They’re the same size as your feet.”

Karkat looks at her for a second. “I’m not even going to question how you know the size of our feet.”

“It’s not that bad, just a perk of my godtier.”

“Uh-huh,” he says with obvious skepticism, but he still sits down to wipe the rocks off his socks and put his shoes on. Meanwhile, Mituna simply lifts his feet up, brushes the rocks off again, and slips his crocs on while his feet are still up. Jade watches them both until they finish and Karkat’s back on his feet, and then she’s right back to grinning.

“Okay, so the park isn’t actually that far from here. We can walk and be there after everyone else, or teleport and be there before Eridan arrives.”

“Let’s walk. I’m not going to be responsible for you passing out over energy exertion.”

Jade shrugs, but doesn’t seem bothered. “I’m not going to, but I’m not going to argue with you.”

“That’s a first,” Karkat mumbles, before letting out a small shriek as Jade hits him over the head. “Hey, what the shit!?”

“Stop being an ass,” Jade scolds him, before suddenly tensing. Her eyes unfocus and glow white before, again, Mituna snaps back together somewhere else. He freezes in surprise and quickly looks around only to find himself in the backyard of a different house. Karkat is obviously surprised too, but he’s at least quiet as Jade peeks around the corner of the house. Karkat quickly does the same, and Mituna hesitates before joining them.

Across the street, dad opens the front door of their house to look around outside, obviously attracted by the noise. Then he seems to hesitate a moment before finally closing the door again.

Jade groans and steps away from the corner, and Mituna does the same. “That’s the last time I’m hitting you anywhere near your house.”

Karkat stares at his house for a moment longer before turning to Jade. “Oh, so you can hit me elsewhere?”

“Of course I can! Now, let’s go before the neighbors wonder why three strangers are in their backyard.”

Karkat looks like he’s ready to argue some more, but Jade turns to walk towards the back fence and he sighs before following her. Mituna tilts his head and wonders how she’s going to get over it - the thing is at least as tall as him, and he’s the tallest one here - except she easily climbs over it. Karkat reaches the fence next, but before he can attempt to climb it, he and Mituna snap back together on the other side. Jade only grins at Karkat’s crossed arms and furrowed brows before she turns again to cross this next house’s backyard too.

There’s another fence separating this house’s front and back yards, but this time there’s a gate. Jade easily opens the latch and holds it open for Karkat and Mituna to go through before closing it behind them. Then there’s a brief pause where she pulls her phone out and looks around before continuing to the sidewalk. The two boys keep silently following her. Mituna, on his part, is a little scared of attracting the neighbors outside their houses. Who knows what they’d think of a group of kids walking around at sunset.

Thankfully they don’t attract any neighbors during their walk, and luckily the park isn’t actually that far and it comes into view quickly enough. The park and its gravel parking lot are just across the street. A few street lights illuminate the area in the growing dusk, and three figures are gathered underneath one of them like they’re sharing a conversation.

Jade waves to the group and two of them wave back, though from this distance (and because of Mituna’s stupid human eyes, Eridan was right), he can’t exactly make out who waved. Jade looks both ways across the street before walking out and towards the parking lot. Karkat does the same but Mituna walks across without hesitation. He hasn’t heard a single car around since he got outside and something tells him there’s not about to be one. Once everyone’s across the road, Jade leads them over to meet up with the rest of the group.

Meenah’s leaning against the light pole, a look on her face that automatically has Mituna tense. He barely hears Roxy greet Jade. All he hears is Meenah’s response of “Fuckin’ finally” to their arrival.

Some part of him was really hoping he wouldn’t have to come face-to-face with her again.

* * *

Karkat has had a long day, alright? First he woke up as a human and realized no one around him remembered the game, then he realized that some people actually did remember but he barely knew half of them, then he realized that he was living with adults,  _ then _ he had to go do a little bit of damage control with Mituna earlier,  _ then _ he had to attend a stupid wriggling-day celebration for himself, and finally, after all that, Meenah just  _ had _ to call them out on being late to a gathering with no set starting time. After all that, he feels like he has the fucking right to go off on her a little bit.

Except he can’t even do that, because Jade comes over and puts her hand over his mouth. The gogdamn audacity. “Shhh, Karkat,” she says. If he were still a troll, he’d be growling right now. “We still need to be a little quiet here. There’s houses and apartments right across the street.”

He glares at her in anger, but apparently she can sense that he won’t immediately begin screaming and she backs off. He turns back to Meenah to have a word with her, but he gets interrupted again as Roxy jumps into the picture and he just deflates. He cannot win.

“Sorry Karkat, I want to yell at her as much as the next person, but she said she has something important to tell us.”

“Damn right I do,” Meenah says as she inserts herself into the conversation. “Better note this down, karcrab.”

Karkat halfheartedly crosses his arms. “Why am  _ I _ the one that has to write it down? What about Eridan?”

“Oh my cod. Nevermind, jus’ fucking listen and don’t say a word until I’m done. First: Eridan and Cronus are my brothers here, which means-”

“What!?” Eridan interrupts. “Wait, what the fuck!? Are you my sister? Is Fef my gogdamn sister?”

Meenah gives him an unamused look, which has Eridan withering and Karkat actually wanting to defend him. “I told you not to interrupt,” she says, and glares at him for a moment longer before huffing. “Anyway, that’s somefin to be aware of. Then there’s the fact that somefin’s seariously wrong with human Dualscar. I asked him about our ages - mine, Eridan’s, Cronus’ and Feferi’s, and he said that we were years apart from each other. Then he kept saying that we were all sixteen, and when I called him out about it he went silent and completely forgot that part of the conversation.”

For a moment after she finishes, everyone is silent. For Karkat, it’s partially because he’s trying to process what she just said along with the fact that he isn’t quite sure she’s done. Then, when he finally gets everything sorted, he very eloquently says “What the fuck?”

Jade bites the nail of her thumb, her brows furrowed in thought. “I agree with Karkat. That’s really weird.”

Karkat glances over at Eridan only to see him looking like he’s trying to solve a very complicated math equation. Roxy, on the other hand, looks on top of shit. “Wait.. This is pretty much a game after a game, right?” Jade nods, so Roxy continues. “Yeah, and I don’t know if you guys saw what Jade, Karkat, and I did, but it looked like the game kinda fucked itself. What was it, the corruption sequence thingy?”

A spark on an idea starts forming in Karkat’s head. “Yeah, it did that right before it welcomed us in.”

“Mhm,” Roxy continues. “So if it really was a corruption thingy, it makes sense that there would be glitches. Maybe this Dualscar guy had one of those. He’s supposed to remember his kids as being different ages, and maybe they’re- you’re- supposed to be, but you/them all came into this game as sixteen-year-olds, so there’s a conflict.”

Jade gasps and straightens up. “Oh shit, that makes sense! But that also means that there’s going to be other glitches. Is every guardian going to have glitches? Are they all going to have different glitches or the same ones? Are they individuals in the sense that they’re all coded differently to account for different personalities, or are all the guardians coded basically the same? That would make sense to save time and resources, and- Ah, shit!” Jade quickly pulls her phone out and starts typing up a storm on it. “I have to write all my questions down. The scientist in me is coming out and I haven’t even started wondering about what that means for us, our friends, and our powers!”

Meenah, meanwhile, is looking very interested. “That’s dolphinitely an idea we have here. And if you need help testing anyfin, lemme know. Maybe we can glitch ourselves out of here.”

“I dunno,” Roxy murmurs, but Meenah completely ignores her in favor of looking over Jade’s shoulder and giving her more questions to write down.

All of this leaves Karkat feeling a little left out. He had the same idea Roxy did, and while he’s perfectly fine with her getting the spotlight, now he’s just kind of floating there and wondering how he can even contribute. He guesses he can help by testing things, but he doesn’t need to mention that right now. He’ll have plenty of time to volunteer later. That leaves him glancing between Eridan, who looks just as awkwardly lost as Karkat is, and Mituna, who’s sticking close to him and eyeing Meenah with a strangely complicated look on his face.

Karkat wonders what’s going on with him. Mituna obviously has some sort of past with Meenah, and from his reactions to her today it doesn’t seem good. Maybe he should ask Mituna about it later, or at least offer to take the brunt of Meenah so he doesn’t have to. Maybe he can make sure he only has a certain number of hacking projects he has to deal with? There  _ were _ a lot being thrown at him in just a few hours’ time.

Eridan breaks Karkat out of his thoughts by tapping on his shoulder, and Karkat looks over at him. Damnit, he forgot how tall the fucker was. “Yeah?”

“So, uh, the ladies pretty much have it covered I guess.”

“Yup.”

Eridan opens his mouth as if he’s going to say something, then sighs and looks away. It takes another moment for him to finally speak. “Look, I know we didn’t really end on good terms. But it’s been a long while for me just wandering the bubbles an’ thinking. I uh, fuck I’m bad at this, but I guess I’m asking for a second chance?”

Karkat crosses his arms and tilts his head slightly as he considers that. On one hand, every bone in his body is telling him to reject this. But on the other, he knows Eridan probably had a long time to reflect. He was talking differently earlier today and he even seemed to worry about people when they went missing or went off the deep end for a second. That might just be because there’s only five other people that remember the game he went through, but maybe there’s always something else. Then again- ugh shit, at this point Karkat’s been silent long enough that Eridan is drooping and already expecting something bad, so he decides to finally say something. “Why the fuck not?”

The hope and relief on Eridan’s face is immediately apparent, and he perks up like a little adorable barkbeast. “Really?”

“Yeah, sure. Besides, we need all the help we can get to get out of here.”

Eridan quickly nods and gets his serious face on, though his voice betrays a hint of excitement. “We certainly do! An’ I’m determined to help find out everythin’ I can. Before you, Jade, and Mit showed up Meenah was tellin’ us how she went out around town. I’m planning on doin’ the same. If this is a game then there must be boundaries, right? Like the Veil was for us. Kinda. If I wander far enough I’ll either hit a wall or the game will start glitchin’ worse, and that sorta information might help us plan an escape.”

It’s been so long since Eridan let himself get excited about anything, Karkat forgot how weirdly nice it was listening to his accent get more pronounced with it. “Yeah, it just might. But what if the boundaries are too far away to walk to?”

Eridan ponders that for a moment. “Then I’ll just have to get some gear an’ supplies and hope it’s close. I could prolly survive out in the wilderness even with nothin’, but it never hurts to be safe.”

Where was that Eridan that would blindly forge his own path, ignorant of such things as gear and supplies? Maybe he really did become a different, better person. “It doesn’t. But remember, you’re human now. Humans can’t survive the same shit trolls can, especially when compared to seadwellers. You’re going to have to be more careful than you’re used to.”

“Damn,” Eridan mumbles, before remembering that Karkat’s right there and picking up the volume. “That’s true, but Jade an’ Roxy were always humans. I can just ask them what to watch out for, and who knows, maybe their planet is just as soft as they are.”

Karkat actually smiles a little in amusement. “Maybe. But don’t say that in front of them, okay?”

Eridan quickly shakes his head. “I won’t!”

“Good,” Karkat starts, but then hesitates. A small sound caught his attention but he can’t identify where it came from. Then he hears Jade asking if Roxy is alright and he turns to look at her. She’s frozen and her eyes are wide - which means Karkat probably heard a small sound of surprise. However, her eyes quickly narrow and she whips her head out towards the field like she’s looking for something. The sun has fully set by now and outside the radius of the street lights, the field is completely dark. And silent. Are fields usually that silent?

Meenah raises an eyebrow at all this and looks between Jade and Roxy. “What’s wrong with her?”

Jade shrugs and steps towards Roxy, but Roxy raises a hand to stop her. “Wait. There’s- Fuck, there’s something.”

“What do you mean?” Jade asks. Then she seems to scan the field. “I don’t see anything, and I don’t sense anything either. There’s nothing out there but trees, bushes, and grass.”

Roxy is shaking her head before Jade even finishes. “No, it’s not- Shit, I don’t even know how to explain it. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to know it’s there. It’s like it’s at the edge of my vision, but- awareness?”

“Could it be another glitch?” Meenah suggests. Now she’s scanning the field too.

Eridan straightens himself and decides to take the lead. “If it is, we need to document it.”

“I agree,” Jade says. Then- “Roxy, do you think it’s safe enough for us to go out there?”

“I have no idea,” she responds. “I can’t even get a read on whatever I’m feeling.”

There’s a moment of silence before Jade nods and goes to take a step out into the field, but out of nowhere, Mituna speaks up. Karkat almost forgot he was there. “Do we still have access to our weapons?”

Meenah immediately lets out a loud curse. Eridan curses quietly while Jade groans and Roxy face palms herself. Karkat, meanwhile, is too shocked to pay that much attention to them. Did he seriously not think to check to see if his strife deck was still accessible? What kind of troll is he? He even came face to face with adults today, and he didn’t even consider taking his sickles out? He silently curses his stupidity and wills his sickles out of his strife deck and into his hands. He feels the familiar weight of them and calms down slightly, and a quick glance around him confirms that everyone else is also able to take out their weapons. He sighs in relief and puts them away again before anyone looks out of their windows and sees six teens with guns, blades, and a trident.

Roxy, Jade, and Mituna put theirs away too (two guns and a shuriken respectively, though Karkat’s sure Mituna has more of those). Eridan and Meenah keep their weapons out, but before Karkat can tell them to put them away before someone sees, they’re already walking out into the field. Maybe they’re going quickly to try to play off the fact that they completely forgot about a critical part of their defense, but whatever it is, it leaves the rest of the group sighing or huffing as they hurry to follow along.

It’s not long before they leave the light of the parking lot and enter the darkness of the field. Karkat was right, it’s oddly silent. Usually there’s at least some sort of insect around at night making a fucking racket, but here there’s nothing. The only sound comes from the breeze stirring the tops of the trees and the footfalls of the group crunching the grass beneath them. It makes Karkat hesitant to break the silence. Eventually Eridan and Meenah slow to a stop, though it isn’t any wonder why. The park is big enough that the light from the surrounding streets can’t illuminate the heart of it. With their human eyes, the dark becomes much less comforting and much more mysterious. He can barely see where his feet are going, much less what’s in front of him.

Despite this, Roxy keeps walking past the two former seadwellers. Jade follows right along and pulls her gun out into her hands again. The way she’s holding it close, it seems to mostly be there for comfort. Karkat glances over at Eridan when he comes up beside him, tilts his head over towards the two girls ahead, and keeps following them. Eridan follows a step behind, and Meenah and Mituna come with.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Jade asks.

“Kind of,” Roxy answers. “I know it’s somewhere in front of us, but beyond that? Hell if I know. It’s almost like- no, that’s not it. It’s like someone’s supposed to know it’s there, but  _ I’m _ not. I’m lucky to sense it at all.”

Eridan picks his pace up to pass Karkat and come alongside the girls in the lead. “Do you have your god tier powers? Like Jade?”

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s just a thought, but what if it’s something to do with that? I met plenty a’ other versions of Sollux and Mituna in the dream bubbles. They’re both doom players, but what they sensed was different. Like how only Sollux could tell when a death was coming while only Mituna could tell where. Little things like that.”

Roxy tilts her head in thought. “So you think this is meant for some other void player?”

“That or it isn’t meant for anybody. Another void player would just have an easier time sensing it.”

“Huh,” she muses. “Could be something like that. Makes more sense than having it meant for another void player, considering I’m the only one that remembers.”

“Or,” Jade starts, “Maybe there’s more people than just us here. Others from different games who had this happen and are stuck here too!”

Roxy and Eridan seem to think about that, but Karkat’s attention is drawn away when he hears Meenah curse. He looks back in time to see her rip her arm away from Mituna, not even seeming to notice his worried wide-eyed stare. “Don’t fuckin’ touch me!”

Mituna doesn’t even seem to notice her words. He steps past her to come over to Karkat and grab a fistful of one of his sleeves. Normally Karkat would shy away from the contact, but the way Mituna’s staring out into the field silences him. Then he finally blinks and seems to notice the group’s attention on him, and he flushes little before tilting his head back towards the parking lot. “We should go back.”

Meenah rolls her eyes and walks right past him. The group stopped and turned at her words, and now she seems intent on getting it moving again. “Ignore him, he’s just scared of the dark. Was like this all the time back in the game.”

Jade, meanwhile, steps in front of Meenah to stop her from getting past. “We don’t just ignore people,” she says, before looking over at Mituna. “Why shouldn’t we keep going?”

Before Mituna can even open his mouth, something breaks the silence of the field. The grass crunches as something scuttles towards them, and in a flash, Meenah is practically growling and stabbing into the field with her trident. Jade, Roxy, Eridan, and Karkat all let out sounds of surprise, but while Roxy tells Meenah off, Jade and Eridan are already stepping forward to examine whatever Meenah just stabbed to death.

“What the fuck? You don’t just go stabbing blindly in the dark! That could’ve been a cat or something!”

Meenah bares her teeth at Roxy, but before she can say anything, Jade interrupts them. “Guys, look!”

Everyone leans in to look at whatever Meenah just killed. Karkat looks at Mituna for a second before stepping forward to look at it too. Mituna hesitates but follows Karkat, keeping a hold of his shirt the whole time. Almost immediately, Karkat recognizes the thing. It’s no purrbeast. It’s an imp, and from its dark coloring and harlequin scraps, it looks to be one of the things that used to plague John’s planet.

“How the fuck did that thing get here?” Eridan muses.

Jade steps back from the enemy and scans the field again, her eyes wide and searching in the vain hope to find anything among the darkness of the field. “Shit, shit, shit. This is another game, we should’ve expected more than just some memory screw-ups.”

Roxy absentmindedly pats Jade’s shoulder, but her mind is obviously somewhere else. “It came from the direction the- the  _ thing  _ seems to be in.”

“Do you think it’s some kind of spawner?” Karkat asks. He’s been getting tired of not saying anything.

“If it is,” Meenah says, huffing as she pulls her trident out of the Imp, “it could’ve been set out for us. No one else is here”

“Oh shit,” Jade starts. She looks over the field one last time before turning back to the group. “And it only came up while we were out here. That’s a good point.”

Mituna lets go of Karkat’s shirt. Surprised, Karkat looks back to see if Mituna’s noticing anything else, but he seems to be relatively calm now as he starts walking away from the group. He’s not heading back towards the parking lot, but out towards the side of the park. Almost like he’s circling something. Karkat would ask him what’s up, but Eridan tugs on his sleeve and pulls his attention away.

“There’s no grist.”

“What?” Karkat asks, not at all hearing what Eridan just said. Then it comes to him and he mentally face palms himself. “There’s no grist?”

“Yeah,” Eridan answers, and points towards the body of the imp. “Normally they disappear and grist pops out. This one’s still here.”

“Well are we sure it’s actually dead?”

Meenah, hearing Karkat’s question, stabs the thing again. “Looks dead to me. It dolphinitely ain’t moving.”

Jade tilts her head slightly at that. “Why are we hung up on whether it’s dead or not?”

“‘Cause it’s not dropping grist,” Eridan explains.

Jade makes a little o with her mouth and examines it again. Sure enough, it doesn’t spontaneously explode into grist, and she frowns. “Well, it’s a different game. Maybe grist doesn’t exist here.”

Roxy steps back slightly and looks over at the parking lot, her eyes narrowed in thought. “Hopefully the body doesn’t stay. If no one else knows about the game, they probably won’t know about the enemies either. I have a bad feeling this thing’ll attract a lot of attention if it’s found, and we should prolly lay low.”

Meenah pulls her trident back out of the imp. “Maybe one of us should take it home. Maybe it  _ is _ grist, or whatever passes for it.”

Normally Karkat would call out how stupid of an idea that his, but his attention is elsewhere again. He’s watching Mituna slowly walk around a small copse of trees off towards the group’s right. Karkat can’t make out much more than his figure in the darkness, so he turns his attention to the trees instead. What  _ is _ Mituna looking at? Just then a small shape on all fours comes pelting out of the bushes and straight for Mituna.

“Watch out!” Karkat yells, his sickles finding their way into his hands as he sprints forward. Mituna is too far away to reach in time and he knows it, but luckily Mituna’s eyes were already trained on the little sucker. Shurikens go flying out of Mituna’s hands. His aim is off - he’s probably used to his psionics helping - but a couple hit the imp and slow it down. Then it’s easy enough for Karkat to launch forward and finish it off with a quick slice along the back of its neck.

Behind him, the group lets out shouts of alarm and quickly hurry over towards the action. Karkat straightens himself up and looks at the shale imp for a second before training his attention on Mituna.

“The fuck were you doing?”

“There’s more,” he says.

Karkat sighs heavily only to realize what he just said. “Oh. Shit. That means there probably  _ is _ a spawner.”

Mituna nods and goes to gather his shurikens. “I think it’s in there.”

Karkat turns to look at the copse of trees. The group finally reaches him, but before anyone can say anything, he fills them in. “Mituna thinks the spawner thing is in there.”

Roxy looks at it too and frowns. “Shit, I think that’s where me and Jade were earlier.”

Jade blinks at the mention of that, then examines the dark shapes of the trees. “Oh yeah, you’re right”

Eridan frowns slightly as something hits him. “Wait, Jade, you can sense things. Where they are an’ stuff.”

The teen in question looks over at him. “Yup. Why are you mentioning it?”

“I’m wondering why didn’t you sense the imps earlier.”

Jade frowns slightly as she finds the right words. “Well.. some god tiers know things are there without having to look for them. Like Roxy with this spawner. But others have to think about sensing things in order to find anything, and that’s me! But there’s also one other thing. After the imp was killed I was actively getting a feel for the area and sensing where things were, but there just weren’t any other imps to find. If the spawner theory is correct, then that explains it. But it also means that I won’t be any sort of help to detect surprise attacks right now unless I’m specifically looking for one.”

Eridan’s frown deepens, but he nods. “And the whole point of a surprise attack is that you aren’t looking for it.”

Roxy suddenly tenses and pulls her gun out. “Like now?”

Everyone turns their attention towards the bushes only to see six imps rushing towards them. Two are running on their legs, but the others are on all fours and covering ground quickly. Eridan practically growls and aims his Ahab’s Crosshairs at an imp coming for him. Karkat sees that and breaks his attention away from his imp to try to get the stupid fuck to not shoot, but it’s too late. Suddenly there’s a loud crack and a bright blue bolt of energy shoots out of the gun to cut a hole right through the imp’s chest. Roxy curses at the noise before firing her own gun, which is almost completely silent.

But Karkat can’t focus on them anymore. An imp takes advantage of his momentary lapse of attention and lunges at him. It’s surprisingly heavy, and Karkat falls back with an ‘oof’. The imp rears up to claw at his face and Karkat prepares to strike it with his sickle, but Meenah suddenly comes in with her trident and spears it in the side. While she waves her weapon to fling it off, Karkat quickly gets back up to try to save face. He looks around for another imp to fight only to find that everyone already took care of theirs. With that reassurance, he goes over to Eridan to yell at him.

“What the shit where you thinking!?”

Eridan looks surprised and confused to suddenly have Karkat practically in his face. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean! Your gun is loud as fuck, people are bound to hear!”

Jade groans and quickly comes over to them. Or more specifically, Karkat. “Will you be quiet? There’s a neighborhood around.”

Karkat could scream with frustration, except he doesn’t. Instead he quickly gestures at Eridan and his gun. “Tell that to  _ him! _ He probably single handedly got the attention of everyone for miles around!”

Jade opens her mouth to say something, except her attention gets drawn elsewhere. Specifically, it gets drawn to one of the nearby apartments turning its lights on. Then the next one and the next one until all the apartment buildings have most of their light on. Then it spreads to the houses too, and the three of them look at each other with wide eyes.

“Shit,” Eridan comments, before Meenah suddenly lets out a battle cry. They all turn to look as another, larger, wave of imps come pouring out of the bushes, a few of them now looking like mini marble statues, and Karkat groans.

Suddenly it’s back to fighting. Karkat rushes forward to meet a couple of the imps. This time he’s focused and cuts through them with ease. He glances up to see if someone needs help, only to see Meenah happily going around and making an imp kabob. Then another imp jumps onto him and he’s back to fighting. This one manages to cut into his arm and he bares his teeth as he sinks his sickle into it. It falls off and stumbles a few feet only for another, louder crack to sound. A blue bolt five times larger than the first one sears past Karkat’s legs, just barely missing him. A row of imps are practically obliterated, and somewhere behind him, Eridan laughs.

“You could’ve fucking crippled me!” Karkat yells before plunging back into the fray. It almost seems like another wave came out while they were in the middle of fighting this one. If they keep rising in frequency and number of enemies, they’re going to have a real fucking problem on their hands. Karkat stabs and slices through a few more before every imp lifts up into the air. He turns to see Jade floating with them, her eyes glowing white far brighter than the times she used her powers earlier. Then all the imps suddenly come crashing back down onto the ground. Jade stays floating as her eyes return to normal, and despite the darkness around him Karkat can see that she’s starting to look exhausted. Shit. Luckily none of the imps are moving anymore and they still have time before the next wave, so he’s free to make her way over to her. “Hey, come down!”

She shakes her head. “No can do, buster! I have to make sure I’m safe enough to sense when another wave is out.”

He huffs and prepares to try to convince her, but Roxy cuts in and yells over at Jade from the other side of the copse. “Hey, I’m going to try to go in! See if I can find what’s spawning them and get it to go away!”

Jade and Karkat both frown slightly, but it’s Karkat who responds to her. “Alone!? You’re going to get hurt!”

Roxy shrugs. “We still need to get this shit out of here!”

Karkat’s frown deepens, but then he sighs and turns back to Jade. “I’ll go with her. You make sure everyone out here is safe, okay?”

Jade nods. “Of course,” she says, then smiles. “And if you die I’m killing you.”

Karkat snorts and shakes his head. “Good luck with that,” he responds, before jogging over to Roxy. He’s almost over to her when he feels a presence next to him, and he raises an eyebrow when he sees that it’s Eridan. “What are you doing?”

“Going to help you an’ Rox,” he says, before slowing down to a stop when they reach her. Karkat does the same.

“Fuck no. You stay out there and destroy everything with your loud-ass gun. You’d accidentally burn the entire mini forest down with that thing if you tried to use it in there.”

Eridan frowns, but Roxy speaks up. “Three people are just going to make everything unwieldy. Besides, you’d do better out there. It’s tight quarters in there.”

He doesn’t stop frowning, but he slowly nods. “Fine.”

Karkat nods in response and pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll call you if you need help.”

Eridan’s frown eases up a little, but then his eyes flick over Karkat’s shoulder and his eyes narrow. Karkat turns around in time to see another wave of imps come pouring out of the bushes. With their proximity to them, half the imps come straight towards their little group of three. Karkat quickly steps forward to defend them, but he knows that there’s barely any time to get an attack in before they’re all over them. Except, right as he’s thinking that, a weird pulling sensation spreads from his arm and into his chest. In the blink of an eye, a large swath of blood comes pouring out of the cut on his arm only to quickly harden and form a shield. Luckily for them, it forms in enough time that he successfully staves off most of the flow of the enemies.

The rest are now more easy to pick off, which Eridan and Roxy go to right to doing. Loud cracks split the air followed by the unnaturally quiet sounds of Roxy’s rifle firing, but Karkat doesn’t focus on them. His heart is hammering and all of his mind is focused on figuring out what the fuck just happened. Did he make a blood shield? Is that really what happened? He really thought he wasn’t god tier, but here he is with his weird blood powers. Some of the imps claw at his shield and tiny cracks appear in it, but more of his own blood pours out to fill them and reinforce the structure. He has no idea how he’s doing this, but holy fuck is he doing it.

He eventually tears his attention away from the shield and to the people behind him. Eridan is picking off the last of the enemies, and Roxy- wait, where is she? Karkat quickly looks around her but doesn’t see her anywhere. He lets out a curse, then thinks for a second before grabbing the shield and pulling. It easily separates from the stem of blood connecting it to his arm, and he barely pays attention to the rest of it as his blood goes back to its liquid form and retreats back into his body. Then he takes the shield and proceeds to bash the last few enemies into the ground before looking around again.

Eridan notices this and comes over to shoot an imp that’s still moving. “Where’s Rox? I thought you were going in with her.”

“Yeah, well it looks like she fucking left me behind,” Karkat answers. “Let’s hope the next wave isn’t soon.”

Eridan nods, but now that there’s a lull in the danger he takes immense interest in the shield still in Karkat’s hands. “Is that made out of blood?”

Karkat looks down at it, grimaces in disgust, and hands it over. “Yeah.”

“That’s so cool,” Eridan exclaims as he looks it over. “How’d you make this? Did you go god tier after I died? Actually, how would that happen? Were there quest beds on the meteor?”

“No, there weren’t any, and last I checked I wasn’t god tier. I have no fucking clue how this happened.”

Eridan ponders that for a second and a wide smirk appears on his face. Oh shit, he’s going to try something dumb. “I wonder if this new game made all a’ us god tier.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, no. Stop it.”

“I wonder if I have my Prince of Hope powers.”

“You’re going to accidentally destroy this entire neighborhood. Don’t you dare.”

“What if it helps kill the enemies?”

“I don’t trust you and destructive weapons. You’re going to kill more than the enemies.”

Eridan opens his mouth to respond, but the bushes move again and he grins instead. He puts Ahab’s Crosshairs away in favor of taking his wand out. Karkat, not trusting this shit, quickly puts distance between them. Eridan waves his wand and points it at the first imp that bursts out of the bushes. A bright light comes out of it, but instead of arcing towards the enemy and killing everything like Karkat expected, it lets out a screech and spreads its wings. Oh fuck, that’s an angel, and its tail is still attatched to Eridan’s wand. Eridan shrieks, throws his weapon away, and runs the hell out of there, but the angel sees the movement and streaks towards him instead of attacking the enemies. When Eridan sees that he lets out a terrified shriek and desperately points at the imps instead. Luckily the angel turns on a dime to fly towards them instead, and the momentum breaks its contact with the wand in such a way that the weapon practically goes flying back into Eridan’s hand.

Sadly Karkat has to turn to fend off the imps that are already biting at his legs, but he can just imagine the look Eridan has on his face. That imagery almost makes him laugh. A little ways off, he hears Meenah laugh, but he doesn’t know if that’s because she’s giddy with adrenaline or because she saw the stint with the angel. Either way, he’s too focused on fighting to care about that right now. The angel goes shreeching past him to tackle an imp. The enemy goes down almost instantly, and it starts hopping from imp to imp to kill them all in record time. It’s almost no time at all before the field is still again.

Karkat takes that opportunity to turn to Eridan to ask him why he had to summon an angel of all things, but the thing itself comes floating right in front of his face. He takes a step back to stare at it with wide, slightly terrified eyes. He’s seen the angels on LOWAA before, and this is not one of them. It’s covered in feathers - the only feathery parts used to be the wings - and it has two tiny arms tucked up against its chest. It would almost be cute if it weren’t for the deadly claws on the ends.The mouth itself is an almost cartoony jagged line, but he has no doubt that it’s filled with blade-like teeth. The thing opens it mouth to speak to him, and yeah, those are some sharp teeth.

“Tol a-aga,” it says, with small whiteish-yellow symbols floating out from its mouth, and Karkat has no fucking idea what that means. Then it flies over to Eridan and curls around his neck like a big feathery scarf. Eridan, obviously terrified, lets out a small squeak and freezes.

However, Karkat’s attention is torn away from the weird angel and towards the edges of the park. He can see a group of people silhouetted against the light and more seem to be joining them. One or two even seem to have their phones out to record what’s going on, and he curses before running over to Jade.

She floats down to land on the ground and addresses him before he even comes close. “Do you see them?” she asks, her attention completely on the gathering group of people.

“Yeah, I see them,” he answers. “So much for laying low.”

She sighs, but then Meenah comes over to interrupt them both. She barely spares a glance towards the small crowd before nodding her head towards the copse of trees. “Look who’s coming back.”

Both Jade and Karkat turn to look as Roxy comes stumbling out from the dark shapes of the trees. Jade quickly teleports over to her and appears to be looking her over, which leaves Karkat behind with Meenah. They glance at each other before they both jog over to the two girls. 

“No, really, I’m fine,” they hear Roxy saying.

“No you’re not! Look at that cut on your head!”

“It’s nothing I’m not used to.”

Jade huffs and goes to say something else, but a bright light comes forward to interrupt her. It’s the angel again, and it circles around Roxy before chattering to itself. More of those weird symbols float upwards from its mouth and disappear into the air.

“Cyl a-hie=jhe **y** alkr,” it says, stressing the first part of the last word in a weird way. Eridan comes up next to Karkat and the angel flies over to him to let out a soft coo. Eridan’s obviously weirded out by this and he leans back a little.

“Go away,” he says, sounding like it’s completely out of habit. But the angel listens anyway, and it lets out a trill before spreading its wings and flying head first into his wand. Eridan lets out a squeaks and drops his wand, but aside from a quickly dimming glow, it doesn’t do anything else.

Meenah stares at it for a second before turning her gaze back to the crowd. Karkat follows her gaze and sees a few adventurous people venturing out into the dark field. Meenah purses her lips before turning back to the group. “We have to get out of here.”

Roxy tears her gaze away from Jade and grimaces when she sees the people coming towards them. “Yeah, you’re right. And we should probably scatter, too. We can go over what happened later.”

“Wait,” Karkat starts, “what about the other waves?”

“That was the last one. I saw the spawner thingy and it closed up when the last imp came out, and I don’t sense it anymore. I think we’re okay.”

Jade grimaces slightly. “Hopefully,” she says, before gasping in surprise when a whole bunch of colorful lights suddenly appear around them. Karkat whirls around with his sickles in hand, only to relax when he sees that it’s only faintly glowing grist. The ones closest to them get sucked in towards the group and absorb into them like they did in Sburb. Karkat sees another group of grist get sucked into another figure on the other side of the trees, and he quickly recognizes them as Mituna. No one else around here has as bad posture as he does.

Meenah, for her part, grins and starts running around to collect the majority of the grist. “You guys get going! I’ll clean this stuff up and be on my wave.”

Eridan hesitates before doing the same, albeit a little more slowly. “I’ll stay with her. We’re heading the same way anyway.”

That leaves Roxy, Jade, Karkat, and Mituna who’s still further into the field. Roxy glances around at everyone before winking and starting to float upwards. “I’ll tell you guys the deets of what happened later. You guys gotta get home.”

Before Karkat can even respond, she’s already gone and floating way up into the sky. Jade watches her for a moment before shrugging and smiling at Karkat. “Well, let’s go! First stop: your house.”

Karkat opens his mouth to ask how they’re going to get there with the crowd in the way, but suddenly he gets that feeling of being everywhere at once only to snap together again. He blinks in surprise and Mituna - who’s now right next to him - does the same. They’re back in someone’s side yard, but before he can think too much about that Jade groans and clutches at her head. Karkat quickly rushes over to see if he can help, but she shakes her head and steps back. “N-No, don’t. You two need to get inside.”

“What about you?” he asks. “We can’t just leave you here!”

“I’ll be fine,” she says. “Just give me a moment before I teleport you two back in your room.”

Mituna suddenly cuts in, which ends up being a little weird for Karkat just on account of the fact that Mituna’s been silent and/or on his own for the majority of the night. “What if Kankri’s in there?”

Karkat curses quietly to himself. “Shit, you’re right.”

“Of course I am. And,” he starts, then looks up at the house whose side yard they’re in, “that’s our room right there. The window’s closed.”

For a second Karkat wonders why that’s so important, but then he remembers. Oh shit. They left the window open. The fact that it’s closed now means that someone found it, and if they found it, they probably went to question him. And if they went to question him, they’d notice he was missing…

Jade seems to be having the same train of thought despite her obvious headache. “That sucks.”

Mituna nods and lets out a noise of agreement, only to tilt his head. “Sorry, Karkat.”

Karkat furrows his brows. “What are you sorry for?”

“I think you’re going to take all the blame.”

For a second he wonders why Mituna’s saying that when he’s clearly just as culpable, but he doesn’t have much of an opportunity to do so. All three of them straighten up a little when they hear the front door open and footsteps crunch the grass. Jade quickly hides behind a bush by the side of the house, but Karkat and Mituna are completely in the open as human Signless rounds the corner. He stops when he sees them, then crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. Karkat spares a glance at the bush only to see that Jade already teleported herself away.

Well fuck. This is going to be interesting.

* * *

Hours later, four figures sit in a dark room. The room is mostly empty except for them, the four chairs they’re sitting in, a massive wooden desk behind them, and a large screen on the wall in front of them. The screen casts harsh lights over all four of them as a scene plays out on it. A dark, almost pitch black park occupied with that looks to be six figures and a small hoard of tiny, scrambling things coming after them. Then the footage cuts to two news reporters discussing what they just showed.

The figures shift at that. A large man sits in the center, his face illuminated with the garish colors of the newsroom. Smoke curls up from his lips and shines in the light as he lowers his cigarette. The scene shifts to cut to another part of the fight from what looks to be another camera. He watches with calculating eyes as a bright, winged light seems to come from the hands of one of the fighters. Then it chases them for a second before launching itself into the frey and carving a path among the creatures. He would be lying if he says he isn’t interested, but he doesn’t lie. Not about something like this. The man watches as the fight seems to come to a close before picking up the remote and pausing the recording before the reporters can start talking again. Then he turns to the two people on his left, seated so close together he can barely tell them apart. “What do you think?”

The two men glance at each other for a second. Their faces are identical to one another, and their movements are no different when they turn to look at the man who addressed them. Only one of them speaks, and only the movement of his lips betrays which one is doing so. “Watch and wait. With luck they won’t find out about us, but if they do we’ll just have to strike first.”

The person in the fourth and final chair scoffs at them. Until now she was watching the screen with feigned disinterest, but now she turns her head to meet the gaze of the two men. “We should go after them now. Did you see them? They lack teamwork. Most of them were on their own the entire time, especially that one useless person with the throwing stars. Chances are they don’t even know how to work together right now, unlike us. We have the advantage. And don’t even get me started on how that one person ran  _ away _ from the thing they just summoned. They’re an inexperienced threat, and we’ve dealt with enough of those to know what to do.”

The man in the center drums his fingers against the armrest of his chair. “That’s true.”

The woman flips her hair over her shoulder. “Exactly! We-”

“But,” the man interrupts, “they caught the attention of the media. Will it really be smart to go after them right now? Everyone knows that heroes and monsters don’t pop up for only one showdown; the entire country is going to be waiting for them to come back. They’ll see us attack if we do it next time they show up.”

One of the twins sits back in his chair. “And even her influence can’t hide us after that,” he muses. The other twin copies his movement and adds, “we’d be flushed out in record time, all because of a perceived threat.”

The woman crosses her arms. “They aren’t just a perceived threat. They’ll find us eventually, and I’ll bet everything I have that once they do, they’ll start coming after us. But fine, let’s say we don’t attack them first. What if they attack  _ us _ first? Who knows what they can do! We might not be able to see them coming until it’s too late! Even I won’t be able to see through an invisible disguise, if one of them can do that.”

The man thinks for a moment. “We’ll just have to up our security,” he decides, “and keep a closer eye on our neighbors.” He looks at all three others in turn, daring them to disagree. Even the woman doesn’t dare try it. “These heroes probably live close by. With our connections, it should be no trouble to identify six people acting stranger than usual. From there we only need to keep tabs and make sure none of them gets close to base. If any of them do, we’ll act accordingly.”

The twins nod in agreement. The woman sighs loudly, but eventually agrees too. At that, the man stands up and calls the meeting to the end. There’s no need to go over anything else, he called them here specifically for this, and they all know they can’t stay away from their normal lives for too long. The man watches as the woman stalks out and the twins follow closely behind. No one glances his way as he closes the door behind them. Then he moves the chairs back into position, three in front of the desk and one behind, and resumes the recording. He stands there for a long while, listening to one of the reporters gush about the possibility of real superheroes, and he hopes that they’re wrong. As much as he’s willing to defend his livelihood, he hopes he doesn’t have to become a supervillain to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters after this one will be shorter and only focus on one character's perspective so I can hopefully get updates out faster. But before then, I'm planning on making an intermission style chapter. Right now I'm planning for it to be one big pesterchum conversation, but is there anything anyone would like to see? Specific characters? Do you want to visit the versions of characters that don't remember, or the ones that do? Do you want to visit a character you're almost certain won't be in this fic? Trust me, any character you suggest is in this fic somewhere. I guarantee it.
> 
> But until next time! Let's hope we find out who the mysterious four are~
> 
> For reference:  
> Signless = Kelvin/Dad  
> Psionic = Dexter/Dad 2  
> Disciple = Lenore/Mom


	5. Intermission: The Guardians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set a little bit before the very last part of last chapter. So it goes like:
> 
> Fight -> This chapter -> Discussion with the four mysterious people about the fight

Kelvin, for a moment, is at a loss for words. He knew about it, of course. About the open window Kankri found and the mysterious absence of Karkat and Mituna. Even still, he kept hoping it wasn’t true right up until he heard voices outside the house. When he ventured outside and turned the corner only to see Karkat and Mituna, his heart sank. Still, he tries to keep his hopes up. Maybe Karkat had to visit his friend to keep them calm and he didn’t want to interrupt his parents. Surely that's it.

He’s been staring at them for too long. They start to fidget, so Kelvin sighs and lowers his arms. “Let’s get inside. Take off your shoes and go straight to the dining table.”

Karkat nods mutely and hurries past him. Mituna follows suit, sparing a glance at him before looking away again. Kelvin bites back another sigh and turns to follow them into the house. He’s still wearing socks, so while the kids take their shoes off in the foyer, he moves to the living room to lean against the wall. Dexter and Lenore are waiting for him with expectant stares (the TV isn’t even on, they were all talking and waiting for Karkat and Mituna), and he nods. He watches their faces fall and feels guilty for a brief moment before pushing those feelings away. He'll decide whether or not he should feel guilty when Karkat offers an explanation. The kids pad past him and into the dining room. Lenore waits a moment before she finally sighs and stands up.

“Let’s see what they have to say for themselves.”

Dexter stands up after her and makes his way to Kelvin to squeeze his shoulder. “It shouldn’t be anything too bad.”

Kelvin gives his husband a small smile and straightens up. “Let’s hope,” he says, before turning to make his way into the dining room. Karkat and Mituna are sitting side by side at the table. He can’t help but notice how Karkat fidgets when the adults enter and sit across from them. How he already looks guilty and almost-

No. His son may be worried about whatever punishment he’ll receive, but he isn’t terrified. He can’t be. No one will hurt him and he knows that. Still, some thought in Kelvin’s mind asks if he doesn’t. Thankfully, Dexter breaks him from his thoughts by addressing the kids.

“So I’m guessing you two already know what you did.”

Karkat nods. “We snuck out,” he says, his voice almost wavering. Lenore catches that and spares a glance at Kelvin before speaking up.

“Why?”

Karkat glances at Mituna. Mituna simply shrugs back, and Karkat swallows before speaking up. “We were visiting friends.”

“What kind of friends?” Kelvin asks, hoping against hope that nothing happened while Karkat was with them. While Mituna was with them. He knows Mituna can take care of himself but damn it, he has a right to worry more when it comes to him.

“Just friends. I met them online and we’re all in the same neighborhood, so we thought we’d meet them at the park.”

Lenore frowns slightly. “After you abandoned us with the excuse that one of them was having a crisis.”

Karkat grimaces. “I know it sounds bad, but they were legitimately doing bad before the party. When they messaged me, I really thought they needed my help to calm them down.”

“Instead,” Dexter starts, “they asked you to visit and you didn’t even think to continue your birthday party or at least check in on us before you left. We would’ve been happy to let you go, but then you went and snuck out your window. That’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?”

Karkat starts to speak, but Kelvin interrupts just this once to bring something else to the table. “They didn’t just message  _ you _ , Karkat. They messaged Mituna too. That makes it hard to believe that you thought it was a private plea for help.”

Karkat opens his mouth only to close it again. He looks between the three of them before sighing and looking away. “I’m not going to be able to convince you guys, am I?”

“Depends on what you want to convince us of,” Kelvin says. “We’re more than happy to listen to what you have to tell us.”

Karkat just shakes his head, which makes Kelvin frown. Normally his son would already be standing up and shaking his fist at them as he gives them the exact details and reasons why it was a perfectly innocent visit. Instead he’s sitting there quietly, almost as if he’s afraid of speaking up. A glance at the other two adults confirms that they’re thinking along the same lines. Karkat looks like he’s already given up.

Kelvin wishes he could give Karkat some sort of warning and send him on his way, but he can’t ignore the way his son is acting. “Did something happen?”

Karkat looks up in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

From Karkat’s reaction, he hit the nail on the head. “You’re not acting normally.”

In the pause that follows, Dexter asks a question that sends a chill through Kelvin. “Did something happen to Mituna?”

Karkat frowns. “What? No, of fucking course not,” he says. To anyone else he would’ve sounded confident. However, Kelvin knows his son, and he knows when his son is doubting himself. Karkat doesn’t actually know if nothing happened to Mituna and that worries Kelvin even more.

“Are you sure?” he asks, and Karkat’s frown deepens as the doubt becomes more apparent.

“I’m sure.”

The others start to recognize what Kelvin sees, and their expressions get hard. Dexter, always the most protective of Mituna, speaks up. “We’ll ask Mituna about that after you go to your room,” he says, before glancing between Lenore and Kelvin. At Kelvin’s nod, Dexter continues. “You’re grounded without electronics for now for sneaking out and possibly bringing harm to one of your family members. We’ll reassess your punishment in the morning after we’ve thought it out and heard Mituna’s side.”

Karkat’s brows furrow and he opens his mouth to argue, but Kelvin shakes his head and Karkat’s mouth shuts again. Dexter holds his hand out expectantly and Karkat hesitates before taking his phone out, turning it off, and placing it into the adult’s hand. Lenore squeezes Dexter’s shoulder before standing up and walking upstairs to inform Kankri that Karkat isn’t allowed on his computer.

Karkat frowns heavily as Dexter slides the phone into the center pocket of his sweatshirt. Kelvin sighs and waves his hand a little. “You’re free to go up to your room.”

Karkat sighs and stands up. “You mean I have to,” he says, before sighing and turning towards Mituna. “I was going to text you this so they couldn’t hear, but now that I’m already guilty and my phone is gone, it doesn’t matter. I hope you didn’t get hurt. I was focusing on other things for practically the entirety of it and I didn’t get the chance to check in afterwards.”

Dexter frowns heavily at that, but Mituna looks totally calm as he shrugs. “I’m fine,” he says, and opens his mouth to continue the thought. Only he stops when he seems to recognize that the adults are still in the room. Karkat sees that but simply nods, pats Mituna’s shoulder, and walks past him to leave the room.

Kelvin shares a glance with Dexter, but before they can ask Mituna what happened, Karkat lets out a shout of surprise and a loud thump is heard. Kelvin quickly stands and hurries around the table to see what happened. Lenore is there at the bottom of the stairs and apologizing to Karkat, who’s standing up from having fallen on the floor. His expression is a mixture of annoyance and worry, but Kelvin’s attention quickly turns to Lenore when she starts speaking to him.

“Turn on the TV! Now!”

He frowns, but before he can speak Dexter answers. “I’ll do it,” he says, as he rushes out of the dining room and into the living room. Mituna trails behind him and Lenore squeezes past Kelvin to do the same. Kelvin shares a confused glance with Karkat before following the three of them. Behind him, he hears the murmurings of the rest of the kids as they stir from their rooms. Something either got everyone excited or worried. As Kelvin enters the living room to sit at the end of one of the couches, he can already hear his kids rushing down the stairs.

Lenore, Mituna, and Karkat are standing to the side when the rest of the kids enter. They’re murmuring something about the news as Dexter turns the TV on. It’s already on the news channel and he steps back so everyone has a view of it. On the screen, two reporters appear to be listening to someone in the back with surprise. They spare a glance at each other before one clears her throat, straightens herself up, and starts reporting.

The videos that are shown later have Kelvin worrying about what happened while Karkat and Mituna were out.

* * *

_ There's been a recent report of gunshots and fighting in a park north of Baltimore. Witnesses say that there were six people, possibly kids, involved in the conflict. Three with guns, two with blades, and another with a large pole or spear. _

* * *

A few roads away, Jack laughs and ruffles Jake’s hair. Jake laughs too and tries to wrestle his hand away, but Jack’s always been stronger. Still, he acts like Jake manages to do it, and he grins when his grandson beams proudly at him. The two of them were just playing a round of Mario Kart, but Jack finally turned the console off and shooed the boy back to bed. Then they started play wrestling as Jake tried to insist that he should stay up later. Usually Jade was there to help Jake take him on, but tonight she insisted she should go to bed early. Darn headaches. At least he could still wrestle with Jake.

Only, instead of scooping Jake over his shoulder and carrying him to bed, the two of them stop and turn towards the TV as the reporters start talking. With the console off, the TV went back to regular channels, the latest being the news. Usually it doesn’t interrupt anything, but tonight is special. Jack straightens up when he hears one of the reporters talking about a fight in the park nearby. He and his friends along with their children were just there earlier, and it’s close enough that whatever happened there can also affect his side of the neighborhood. So he ruffles Jake’s hair one last time and sits back down on the couch to watch. Jake sits down next to him and Jack is too busy thinking to send him upstairs. The reporter talks about a group of six kids and Jack relaxes, but only slightly. Kids can be just as much of a threat as adults sometimes, but hopefully he shouldn’t have to use his gun if they come his way.

Except the reporter keeps talking. The kids were definitely involved in the fight, except it seems like they weren’t fighting each other. The reporter asks someone in the back for clarification, then looks confused, but continues speaking anyway. She talks about a group of monster-ish things attacking the kids. Jack furrows his brows in confusion too, but the reporter continues. She describes the kids as having weapons like guns and blades, only to be interrupted by the other reporter to explain that they also seem to have powers. The first reporter tries to explain that it isn’t possible and the two of them get into an argument. Jack raises an eyebrow at that and glances over at Jake.

“They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.”

Jake shakes his head. “Not at all!”

Still, Jack listens for any other information. The argument carries on for a minute or two before they get interrupted by another member of the back. Then the first reporter straightens up and informs the audience that videos have started appearing online. It takes another half a minute for the first video to come up on the screen, but when it does, Jack’s eyes widen in disbelief. The video is dark but obviously aimed at the center of the nearby park. He can barely make out the figures, but the first thing he notices is the sheer amount of small  _ somethings  _ running around and getting taken out by six figures. They way they’re fighting, Jack figures the reporters have it wrong. Those are adults, not kids.

Then he notices the person floating above the chaos. Their hair billows out behind them and a gun is held in their hands. He watches as they pick off the small creatures and he can’t help but appreciate their form. Despite the darkness, he can see that they definitely know the weapon they wield. They almost remind him of-

Jade! Jack straightens up as he remembers her. If he lets her miss this, there'll be hell to pay in the morning. He hesitates for a split second before standing up and squeezing his grandson’s shoulder. “I’m going up to see if Jade is still awake. Stay here and tell me what happens when I get back.”

Jake nods, his gaze glued to the screen. Jack takes that as his cue to hurry upstairs, though he slows down when he reaches the top. If Jade’s sleeping, he doesn’t want to wake her. He makes his way to his grandchildrens’ bedroom and gently knocks on the door. A second passes before he hears a soft “come in”, and he carefully opens the door to do just that.

He finds Jade laying on top of her pile of blankets, which confuses him for a second. Usually she’s under each and every one of them. However, his mind is still occupied with other things. “You might want to come down and see the news.”

Jade seems to think for a second before she sits up to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“Something went down in the park not too long ago. I- Well, you should see it for yourself.”

Jade tilts her head before standing up and coming over. “If you say so!”

Jack nods and glances around the room for a second. Something in his surroundings seems a bit off to him, and he's always been good at picking that sort of thing out. Then his eyes land on one of her stuffed wolves on her stuffed animal pile. Was it always that big? He remembers winning it himself at a fair when she was younger, and he remembers being disappointed in its small size but happy when she loved it anyway. Now its size definitely isn’t something he’d be disappointed in, but-

Jade is looking at him expectantly, so he grins and steps out of her room. As much as he hates to admit it, he’s old, so he’s probably just remembering wrong. Jade grins back at him and she happily makes her way past him and down the stairs. Jack doesn’t hesitate to follow her. He’s only remembering wrong. Stuffed animals don’t just grow.

* * *

_ Sources say that the people weren't fighting among each other, but rather with each other against something else. Some witnesses say that they were fighting shadowy monsters while others say that they were small animals instead. _

* * *

Meanwhile, Roxanne steps away from her work in her lab to approach Rosaline, who’s standing in the doorway to the basement. Her older sister knows better than to come into the lab proper when Roxanne is still working. She also knows not to make too much noise, but now that Roxanne is away from unstable chemicals and other substances, Rosaline takes this opportunity to explain what brought her down into the basement.

“You need to see the news.”

Roxanne blinks in surprise. “The news? Why?”

“So I can make sure I’m not seeing things. Also, you’re going to be very interested in what happened in the park not that long ago.”

“Wait, the park? The one we visited earlier today?”

“The very same. Now,” she says as she turns to make her way up the stairs, “store your work so it won’t explode and come upstairs. Rose and I will be waiting.”

Roxanne nods and turns back to her lab only to turn to ask Rosaline another question. Except Rosaline is almost at the top already, so Roxanne figures she’ll ask where Roxy is later. For now, she hurries over to quickly finish the last stage of her work and put it in the fridge to chill. Then she cleans her work space and, after checking everything to make sure nothing will happen to her equipment and materials, she makes her way up the stairs. She walks into the living room only to be greeted with the local news station showing a dark video of the park. The video zooms in on three figures. It’s grainy as fuck considering the darkness and the zoom, but she can still tell what they’re doing. One of them kneels in the center with a large blob in front of them, which she figures to be a shield. The figure on the right holds what looks to be a gun and silently fires it at the shadowy creatures that come around the shield. The figure on the left does the same, but bright blue light followed by slightly delayed cracks seem to come from their weapon. She can hear the sounds of shouting, but with the distance between the action and the phone taking the video, no words can be made out.

Rose paces behind the couch while she watches the video. Rosaline is sitting on the couch and leaning forward with obvious interest as she takes it all in. Roxy is nowhere to be found. Normally Roxanne would be all over this, but she knows Roxy would be too and the fact that her youngest sister isn’t here worries her. So she asks Rose.

“Where’s Roxy?”

Rose spares a glance at Roxanne. “Upstairs. I asked her to come down but she said she was busy.”

Roxanne frowns at that. “With what?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I wanted to come down as soon as possible to watch as much of this as I could.”

Roxanne sighs and starts towards the stairs. “Goddamnit. I’m going to get her,” she says, and makes her way to the upper level of the house. She finds Roxy’s room with practiced ease and knocks on the door. Then she waits there for a few seconds before frowning again when there’s no answer. She hesitates a moment before turning the doorknob and stepping in. Her eyes have to adjust to the darkness for a second, but once they do, she quickly notices that no one is there. Worried, she turns around to call Roxy’s name.

A second passes before there’s an answering call of “I’m here” from the nearby bathroom. Roxanne sighs in relief and makes her way over to knock on the door.

“Yo, there’s shit happening on the news. You should see it.”

A few seconds pass before Roxy answers through the door. “In a moment. I’m busy.”

Roxanne grins. “With what, taking a legendary shit?”

Normally Roxy would laugh. Instead, she sucks in a pained breath before she answers. “I wish.”

That gets Roxanne's brows to furrow in concern. Something’s obviously happening, and she thinks a moment before making a decision. “Hey, you naked? Or on the toilet?”

“Uhh.. no?”

“Cool. I’m coming in.”

Roxy starts to protest, but Roxanne is having none of it. She opens the door only to freeze when she sees the scene in front of her. Roxy is standing by the sink, her eyes wide as she stares at Roxanne. A bloodstained towel is soaking in the water of the sink and Roxy herself has a large cut on her forehead. Her forehead itself is wet with watery blood after having washed the cut clean, but the wound is still bleeding. Roxy’s holding a bottle of antiseptic and a wet cotton ball, which she was obviously using to clean the cut with. It’s also probably what caused the sound of pain.

Roxanne stands there for a moment more before coming forward to take the antiseptic and cotton ball from Roxy. “What happened!?”

Roxy opens and closes her mouth, obviously at a loss for words, so Roxanne sighs and grabs bandages from the open medicine cabinet.

“Sit on the seat of the toilet. I’ll help clean you up.”

Roxy nods mutely and sits down. Roxanne sets the supplies down on the side of the sink before taking the towel out and ringing most of the water out from it. Then she moves over to clean the rest of the blood off of Roxy’s forehead even though she knows it’ll just keep coming for a while. The wound looks fresh, too. What did Roxy even do to herself?

“What happened?”

Roxy is silent for a moment longer. Roxanne opens her mouth to ask again, but finally her sister answers her. “I was out.”

Roxanne hesitates before picking up the antiseptic and another clean cotton ball to start disinfecting the cut. “You snuck out?”

“Yeah.”

Roxanne, to be honest, isn’t disappointed. She isn’t happy either, but she knows Roxy of all people would be the one to sneak out from time to time. She also knows that Roxy of all people would be the one most likely to be able to handle herself, which is why she’s so worried now. “What happened?”

Another pause. This time Roxanne forces herself to be patient, and sure enough, Roxy eventually answers. “Meenah.”

Roxanne tenses for a second before she forces herself to relax and continue cleaning the wound. She knows that name. Oh hell, does she know that name. Still, she forces herself to ask “who?”

Roxy shifts. “The girl that was messaging me earlier.”

She thought so. The handle, the puns, and the color were so reminiscent of Remora. But Remora refused to have anything to do with other people’s children, so of course the bully had to be one of her daughters. And of her daughters, the bully had to be Meenah. Feferi was too nice. Damn it. Roxanne is going to have a word with the woman in the morning. For now, however, she focuses on bandaging Roxy’s wound up. She knows that when she makes Roxy come down later, there will be no avoiding the excitement it will cause. Just like she knows Rosaline will recognize the name of the bully as well.

If Remora wants Roxanne to keep being a business partner, she has to control her daughter first.

* * *

_ While the possibility that the creatures may be monsters is hard to believe, with the other reports flooding in, it isn't the strangest thing about the fighting. Videos have recently surfaced showing the six people having inhuman capabilities. Most notable are the bolts of energy one of them fires from their gun and the winged light seen coming from one of their hands, along with another one seeming to float in midair. _

* * *

On the shore of a nearby lake, Cedric sits with Cronus on the couch. They’re watching the news. Right now the footage is on the part where a bright, winged light seems to come from one of the figure’s hands. Cedric would blame it on lens flare or special effects if it the video wasn’t near pitch black or if the internet and the news alike weren’t going nuts about this. Still, he’s more than a little skeptical. He’ll believe it when he sees it.

He’s still thinking along those lines when the front door opens. He straightens up a little to listen closely. Normally he can recognize his sons just by the sound of their footsteps, but today he’s been having difficulty with Eridan. He guesses the sounds could be coming from his youngest son, but it still pays to check, so he stands up to approach the front door. He sees Eridan as he closes it again and goes to take his shoes off and put them back in their place. Then he straightens up and turns only to see his father.

Cedric is a little concerned as he watches his son tense up. Normally he’d outright question it, but he’s been trying to give his sons some space. Though… Shit, it’s hard being a father, but he’s going to ask about it. He’ll back off if Eridan wants him to. “You’re tense.”

Eridan stares at him for a moment before responding. “I guess I am.”

Cedric didn’t expect him to respond like that, but he leans into it a little. “Did something happen while you were out?”

His son seems to think for a moment. Probably deciding on how much to tell Cedric. After a few long seconds, Eridan finally responds. “Yeah. The park.”

Cedric frowns at that. Shit, was Eridan there when it happened? Was he part of the crowd? Did he see more than what the footage can pick up? Is what the news talking about actually real? He has more questions, but he figures they can wait for later. He doesn’t want to overwhelm the kid. Still, he figures he can mention something related to all that. “I heard about it.”

Eridan’s eyes widen slightly. “You did?”

“Yeah, it’s on the news and everything,” Cedric says, then he thinks before continuing. “Want to see it?”

His son stares at him for a second before nodding. “I do.”

Cedric nods back and makes his way back to the living room. “There’s room on the couch.”

“I’m fine,” Eridan answers, as he stands on the other side of the couch from where Cedric sits down. The footage is replaying at this point, so Cedric starts sparing glances at his youngest son. At first he wonders why Eridan refuses to sit, but then he starts wondering why he seems to be analyzing the videos so closely. Then he shakes his head and turns back to the TV. He promised himself that he’d stay out of his sons’ business. He needs to stick to that.

The video shows an earlier part and Cronus murmurs about the figure with the gun that shoots blue lasers. Eridan fidgets. Cedric tries not to wonder why.

* * *

_ I know this report is hard to believe. Trust me, I don't believe it either, but videos have recently surfaced to show the encounter. Whether it's reality or simply an elaborate prank remains to be seen. For you believers put there, I recommend you remain skeptical, but don't completely dismiss this either. _

* * *

Just across the lake, Remora pulls into the driveway of her house. It’s been a long day and she can’t wait to walk in, soak in a nice bath, and sleep. She parks her car and takes her keys out of the ignition before checking her phone. Once that’s done, she pulls her secondary phone out and checks that. There’s a text asking her to attend a meeting in an hour or two. Only she has no real obligation to be there and whatever will be said during the meeting can just be relayed to her, so she texts him back to say that she’s not coming. After that, she gets out of the car with a grin on her face. That never gets old. She rarely attends his meetings anyway, especially not the ones late at night. Something important must’ve come up for this late night one considering the warning for it was so nonexistent, but it’s not like she cares. Not now, at least.

She shuts her car door and looks up just in time to see Meenah reach the front door of the house. Remora watches her daughter as she easily opens the door and steps inside. She leaves the door open, which means that she definitely saw Remora come in. Not like Remora cares anyway, now there’s less work to get inside. She moves around to pop her trunk open and grab her bags from it before shutting it again. Then she makes her way to the front door, steps inside the house, and closes it behind her.

She expected Meenah to hang around like she usually does. Instead, her eldest daughter is nowhere to be seen. Remora looks around for a few seconds before shrugging and toeing her shoes off. It’s not her problem. She locks the door real quick and makes her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She passes Feferi’s room on the way there and hears her laughing at something. Or someone, if she’s on a video call.

Once in her room, Remora dumps her bags by the door and makes her way to the large set of windows overlooking the lake. She reaches for the curtains and grabs a hold of them, but takes a moment to stare at the house across the water. She can just barely make out three shapes in what she knows to be the living room. For a second jealousy burns inside of her, but she quickly pulls the curtains shut before it can take hold. Suddenly she doesn’t feel like taking a bath, and she looks around. Her eyes land on the TV and she stalks over to take the remote and turn it on. Nothing like laughing at the poor lives of others to make her feel better.

Only that doesn’t happen. She turns the TV on and it lands on the news channel she left it at last time. Normally this station tends to broadcast things like shootings, robberies, and everything else in that category of ‘sucks for other people’. It’s actually surprisingly helpful for her, uh,  _ secondary _ job. Except this time there’s no robbery. Instead there’s dark grainy footage of a field swarming with little creatures. Remora squints to try to make the shapes out and sees someone going around and stabbing the creatures with a… pole? The video is hard to make out, but eventually two reporters come on to explain the gist of things. Remora sits back in her large chair and stares at the TV in disbelief. Surely those aren’t actual  _ monsters _ and  _ superheroes _ of all things. They don’t exist. They shouldn’t exist.

But whatever it is, now she’s pretty sure she knows why the meeting was called.

* * *

_ Something obviously happened in that park. The world could possibly be seeing its first superheroes. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I'm posting this on the airport! (Which also means that there's probably a couple typos and/or formatting issues. Oops.) From here on out it's radio silence until August, I just got super inspired to write this.
> 
> There's probably going to be another intermission chapter! This one was written based off of a wonderful suggestion, so if you have any ideas, I'd be delighted to hear them.
> 
> Remora = The Condescension


	6. Secrets and Strife Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College has started, I've gotten things sorted out, and now I can sit down and write! Welcome to the new arc, guys!! I was going to do an intermission of just pesterlogs but then this chapter popped up before I knew it.
> 
> Anyway, the Meanwhile chapters now have their own fic and now the T.A.G. universe is its own series. Whenever I write a new Meanwhile chapter, I'll put the link to it in the notes of the next chapter of this fic! For now have [Meanwhile: A Leviathan](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966234/chapters/49851182) since this is the chapter right after it. Every Meanwhile chapter has the chapter before it in the beginning notes and the chapter after it in the ending notes so readers can easily follow along with the order I'm writing everything in! Woo!
> 
> But for now... The main fic~

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] opened a private memo on board F0UMND 0N3 at 09:28 --

tipsyGnostalgic [TG] renamed board F0UMND 0N3 to alternate game bullshit  
tipsyGnostalgic [TG] renamed private memo UNNAMED2 to portal bullshit  
TG: might as well start organizin this shit cause i think well need it  
TG: anyway so as you guys can see this memo is to talk about portal bullshit  
TG: aka where the baddies come from  
caligulasAquarium responded to memo  
CA: wwait wwhat portal  
TG: oh right you werent there when i said i was gonna tell you guys the deets  
causticCondescension responded to memo  
CC: what fuckin deets  
gardenGnostic responded to memo  
GG: the deets!!  
GG: which you didnt tell us by the way  
CA: wwait she didnt  
TG: nope i said i was gonna do that later  
CA: then wwhy imply  
CA: nevvermind wwhat are they  
GG: should we wait until karkat and mituna are here?  
GG: they can read up but still! they deserve to be included!!  
TG: uhhh i mean as you said they can read up  
CA: they could be sleepin in  
CA: in wwhich case just tell us noww  
GG: wait why would they still be sleeping? its not early at all!  
CC: its culled being a nocturnal species  
CA: they probably wwent to sleep late  
GG: then why are you guys awake if its a nocturnal thing?  
CA: i didnt sleep  
CC: i never sleep  
CC: excuse you bouy  
CA: wwhat the fuck its not my fault wwe said it at the same time  
CC: thats not the problem its the fact you said it before me  
CA: wwhat the fuck  
GG: ladies ladies! calm down!  
GG: its not a crime to say things at the same time! or before others!  
CA: wwhy are you callin me a lady  
CC: yeah hes nothin like me  
GG: nevermind that!! why didn’t you guys sleep?? theres really bad side effects to not sleeping!!!  
CA: did you sleep  
GG: ...  
GG: barely  
CA: yeah  
CA: anywway rox you still there  
technophilicAnnulment responded to memo  
CA: not wwho i wwas askin for but okay  
TA: Y34H K4RK47 C4N7H R3PLY C4U53 H15 4NC3570R 15 4N 455  
CA: definitely not wwho i wwas askin for but damn really  
TA: YUP  
CC: so is this goin to be a regular fin or  
TA: N0 H15 4NC3570R JU57 7H00K H15 3L3C7R0N1C5 83C4U53 W3 W3R3 47 7H3 P4RK W17H0U7 73LL1NG H1M F1R57H  
TG: okay sorry im back  
TG: oh damn  
GG: oh no!! D:  
CA: for howw long  
TA: W3 H4V3 N0 CLU3  
CC: you didnt answer if this is goin to be a regular fin but knowin that timetable it probably is  
CC: do you have him with you to see the memo  
TA: N0 0N3 15 4LL0W3D 70 G1V3 H1M 71M3 0N 7H31R 3L3C7R0N1C5 50 N0  
CA: he cant evven watch  
TA: N0P3  
CA: fuck  
CC: amazing  
GG: shoot... that kind of ruins the plan of having him be here while roxy explains the deets on the portal thingy!  
TA: 7H3 WH47H 7H1NGY  
TG: you can just tell him what we say here tho right  
TA: 1 571LL D0N7 KN0W WH47 7H3 P0R74L 7H1NGY 15  
TG: ill explain it  
TG: can you tell him the deets after were done here  
TA: W3LL Y34H  
TG: good  
TG: alright listen up  
GG: im listening!!  
TG: so there was a portal thing in the mini forest  
TG: i went up to take a look at it and it kinda felt weird in a way that i cant really describe  
TG: almost like it resonated along with a lot of other things  
TG: anyway i saw the imps crawling out of it and was like oh shit this is bad  
TG: and i was just planning on how to deal with it  
TG: cause like how the fuck do you deal with a dark inky portal filled with monsters  
TG: when it just  
TG: closed  
GG: what??  
TG: yeah  
GG: thats all that happened??  
TG: well like ofc i wasnt just sitting there in piece  
TG: imps were crashing into me despite me being invisible and they left some scratches  
TG: but the main thing was the portal thingy  
TG: which is really weird and probably not normal  
CA: wwait let me get this straight  
CA: it just  
CA: closed  
TG: yeah  
CA: wwithout any input from you  
TG: yup  
CA: thats pretty fuckin suspicious  
CC: what did it look like  
TG: idk big and pitch black and  
TG: oh my gog  
TG: jade  
GG: yeah?  
TG: it looked like what the door turned into before we all came here  
TG: the big black hole of nothing  
TG: only instead of in the shape of a house it looked like an oval  
TG: traditional portal style  
TG: but i think i got the same feeling from it  
GG: !!!!  
GG: thats important and scary and cool all in one!!  
GG: but mostly important!!  
GG: we could theoretically get back home through it!  
TG: oh  
CA: wwait wwhat  
GG: when we all won the game we came up to the door and we were going to open it! but then it disappeared and this big vast hole was there instead!  
GG: i remember it feeling like a lot of nothing... no space in it like there was when the door was there  
GG: all that space leading us to our new world just  
GG: gone  
CC: and thats here now  
TG: it feels like it  
CC: and its just that easy to go home  
GG: theoretically!  
CC: its a trap  
CA: no come on if it comes back it could actually be a wway to the neww wworld  
CC: no it fuckin isnt  
CC: this is all a test like sgrub was  
CC: why would this new game or test or whatever just hand us an early victory  
CC: as soon as we try to go through it well either die instantly or get a bunch of monsters to the face  
TG: it IS a risk but gogdamnit its a risk im willing to take to see my friends again  
TG: you dont have the right to tell me not to go for it  
CC: you know what  
CC: youre right  
CC: ill just let you die  
CC: maybe watchin your corpse come out of the next one will teach us all to be cautious for once  
GG: meenah stop it  
CC: stop tellin the truth  
GG: whether or not its the truth you dont have a right to be mean about it! stop it!  
GG: we dont even know for sure that itll come back!  
TG: no its okay  
TG: ill come out of the next one with our friends in tow and prove you wrong  
CC: as if  
CA: look i get you twwo platonically hate each other but can wwe at least get more information on the portal shit before wwe start throwwin people in  
GG: yeah!!  
CC: yeah roxy listen to the only livin friends you have  
TG: EXCUSE ME  
GG: oh my shit  
CA: gogdamnit  
TG: my other friends are not dead theyre still alive sand im going to see them again with no help fro myou  
GG: hey roxy calm down shes only trying to work you up  
TG: im going to gett iny the portal and prove you wrogn  
CC: im so excited  
GG: dont even start with the sarcasm  
CA: jegus  
TA: 1 W45 G0N3 F0R 7W0 M1NU735 WH47 7H3 FR35H FUCK D1D 1 JU57H W4LK 1N70  
CA: you dont wwant to know  
CC: roxy being stupid  
TG: meenah being a bitcvh  
GG: nothing  
GG: oh welp we all answered at the same time  
GG: whats up  
TA: K4RK475 H3R3 N0W C4U53 50LLUX 15 0U7 0F 7H3 R00M  
CA: oh hey  
TA: HEY, FUCKNUGGET.  
TA: GUESS WHY SOLLUX ISN’T IN HIS ROOM?  
TA: OH WOW, NO ONE IS RESPONDING. I FEEL SO LOVED.  
GG: sorry  
GG: why isnt he there  
TA: HE SAW SOMETHING ON HIS HUSKTOP AND WENT TO TELL HIS PARENTS TO TURN ON THE TV. GUESS WHY?  
CA: wwhy  
TA: THERE’S MORE IMPS.  
CC: whale  
GG: oh no  
CA: so soon  
TG: where  
TA: SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY. THIS GUY JUST MADE A POST ABOUT THE NEWS GOING ON ABOUT A WEIRD ATTACK IN THERE.  
TA: JUST LOOK UP WHERE IT IS.  
GG: you dont know what youve just done  
TA: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?  
TG: found it  
TG: if you go south on the roads the park was on and keep going south youll hit it  
TG: if anyone wants to come  
CC: i cant miss this  
TG: good  
GG: oh no guys come on  
tipsyGnostalgic is now an idle chum!  
TA: WAIT I FEEL LIKE I JUST DID SOMETHING BAD. WHAT DID I DO?  
CA: rox is goin to try to throww herself in the portal to see if its a wway home  
CC: and im goin to laugh as her dead body comes hurtlin back out  
causticCondescension is now an idle chum!  
TA: WHAT!?  
GG: shit i have to stop them!  
TA: OH MY GOG  
CA: wwait jade wwait hold on  
GG: what!?  
CA: its broad daylight  
CA: wwhat do you think is goin to happen when our parents/ancestors see us fightin  
CA: do you think thats a thing this game is gonna rewward  
GG: damnit this is not what i want to think about right now!  
CA: do humans normally have people wwith powwers  
GG: no but it always spells trouble when superheroes tell comic people their real identity!  
GG: wait  
GG: shit  
GG: this is basically real life right now  
GG: and that means that if we show who we are someone might get a bad idea  
GG: oh gog thats the last thing we need right now  
GG: can we hide our identity  
CA: i think i saww a fancy mask in my closet yesterday  
CA: i can do it  
GG: shit i dont have anything like that  
CA: any cloth you can rip to put over your nose and mouth  
CA: wwait wwhat about godtier pajamas  
GG: uhhhh  
GG: the pajamas can work yeah  
GG: and i have shirts i can rip for makeshift masks  
CA: ill bring somethin like that for meenah  
GG: ill bring something for roxy  
GG: this is going to be a disaster  
gardenGnostic is now an idle chum!  
TA: IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN HELP?  
CA: just try and get here to stop her  
CA: kar  
TA: YEAH?  
CA: dont blame yourself for this  
caligulasAquarium is now an idle chum!

Eridan pulls away from his computer, shuts it off, and stands up. He meant what he said. His friendship with Karkat might’ve broken off, but he still knows what thoughts would be running through his old friend’s mind. The best thing to do is to get him preoccupied with fixing the problem rather than sitting around and beating himself up over it. Hoping he’ll take his advice, Eridan runs over to throw open his closet. Chances are that Meenah is already outside her house. His house is on the way to the city, but with the pace she’s probably going at, he’ll need to rush to meet her before she passes his home.

He stands up on the tips of his toes to look at the top shelves of his closet. He definitely didn’t see a fancy mask in there yesterday but he looks anyway. Human him would be the type to have one, right? Apparently not since there’s no sign of anything like it. That leaves Eridan standing there and wondering what shirt he’d be willing to tear up to cover his face. Fuck, and he should probably change his clothes too. Anything to distance himself from the person he looks like now. Maybe he should mess up his hair? Or maybe-

Shit. He starts realizing that it’s going to be very hard hiding his identity from Dualscar - Dad - and Cronus. They probably know every outfit he has and every hairstyle he could wear. Though… There is one idea. It’s almost too outlandish to be true. However, he was able to summon an angel last night and Karkat could make a shield of blood. Neither of them had godtiered before then. Maybe, since they spontaneously received their powers, they would also receive their outfits to match Jade’s and Roxy’s?

Eridan decides to test that theory out. He knows that his godtier pajamas aren’t anywhere in his sylladex, so maybe just wishing hard enough would work? It’s pretty ironic considering he doesn’t even believe in wishes, but maybe it’ll work just this once. He closes his eyes and focuses on trying to summon an appropriately regal outfit for himself. At first he imagines violet, but he steers his mind to a color closer to the angel he summoned. Yellow doesn’t suit him, but then again, games don’t seem to care about what suits him.

He starts to feel his clothes shifting and he perks up with a small grin. It’s working! It’s really working! He’s excited to see the results now, but he forces himself to wait until everything seems like it’s settled before opening his eyes and running to a mirror. He expects something like he saw Vriska wear, something like a simple medieval outfit with a hood and symbol on the chest. Maybe even a little crown. However, that’s definitely not what he gets. It’s not even all yellow.

It looks like a victorian suit. It’s a dark black with long sleeves and pants. The jacket is buttoned on one side, the metal a gleaming gold. The top half is open enough for the ruffles from the undershirt to spill out and onto the jacket. They’re a yellow so pale it’s almost white, reminiscent of the glowing angel from yesterday. He watches as matching gloves fade into existence around his hands. Then he notices that his jacket isn’t all black - there’s lace-like patterns in his old blood color all over it.

He glances down and notices his shoes. They’re gleaming black dress shoes with pale yellow wave designs around the sides. He can’t help but grin as his gaze returns to the mirror. There’s no way Sgrub designed this. Perks of being in a new game, he guesses. But the outfit still isn’t done. A heavy weight sets itself on his shoulders as a high-collared violet cape appears too. He gasps with joy and quickly spins around to test it out. It’s heavier than his last cape but he doesn’t care. While he spins, a flash of yellow catches his attention from the corner of his eye. He undoes the clasp of and takes his cape off to inspect it. There on the back is a stylized wing design in the same yellow as everything else. He hums happily as he puts it back on. He’s going to look so good when he goes out.

Speaking of which, Eridan should really get going. He panics for a second about a mask, but while he’s still in front of the mirror, he watches as the top half of his face shimmers. Some of his periphery fades away as a mask appears on his face. He stares at himself for a second before leaning in to examine it more closely. It’s a pale yellow masquerade-style mask. Delicate violet patterns frame the eyes and lenses cover the eyes in place of his usual glasses. Shimmering yellow feathers decorate the top and sides of it. He reaches up with a gentle hand to run his fingers along one of them. They curl towards his touch and he pulls his hand away in surprise before carefully bringing it back. He shudders when his fingertips graze the feathers. He barely feels it on his fingers, but he gets a strange sensation on that side of his face.

He has to force himself to pull away from the mirror. He has his disguise now. He shakes his head to refocus on why he was getting disguised in the first place. He has to leave and intercept Meenah before she leaves. He starts for the door to his room before quickly backpedaling. No, he can’t go out that way. It’s all over if someone sees him like this! Instead he turns his attention to the large windows on the other side of the room. He hasn’t checked to see if they open yet but now’s as good a time as any. He runs over, his heavy cape partially dragging on the ground, and checks for latches.

He pours over the bottom windows only to find nothing. He bites his lip, considering breaking the window, before he looks up. There, at the very tops of each part of the window, are small sections with latches. Normally they’d only be accessible by ladder, but Eridan has an idea. He stands there for a second, his eyes narrowed and his thoughts focused, before he slowly starts floating upwards. His eyes widen when he realizes what’s happening and he gasps as he looks down at himself. Apparently it doesn’t matter if his concentration is broken - he’s staying solidly off the ground. He can’t help but grin at his success before willing himself upwards even more. From there it takes no time at all to unlatch a section of window and fly out of it.

He floats there for a moment, taking in the cool breeze over the lake. Then he turns and flies towards the front of his house. He took long enough that Meenah is surely past his house by now, but he can easily catch up with her now that he knows he can fly. He’s pretty sure that all godtiered players can fly, but it still gives him a burst of excitement when he races over the road that leads to the city. He kind of feels bad for teasing Tavros over how badly he wanted this. This shit is awesome.

Though he might be feeling something else in addition to excitement. The wind stirs the feathers on his mask, causing his whole face to tingle. What’s up with those things? Eridan is about to take his mask off to examine it when he spots a dot of pink running along the road. He angles himself down to meet her and reaches up to absentmindedly fold the collar of his cape to keep the wind from catching it.

Through some sort of sixth sense, Meenah looks up just as Eridan pulls back to land next to her. She raises an eyebrow at his outfit and he proudly smirks, puts his hands on his hips, and puffs out his chest. “Like what you see?”

She looks him over for a couple moments before eventually asking “Where the fuck did you get all that?”

He feigns nonchalance as he examines his gloves. “Oh, just thought it up. I’m a Prince of Hope, you know.”

She scowls and turns to stride down the road, her long braids swinging around and almost hitting him on the chest. “Good for you.”

Eridan jumps back to dodge the braids before hurrying after her. She’s not quite running again, but she’s certainly close to it. “You’re going to watch Rox, right?”

She glares at him from the corner of her eye. “You’re here to stop me.”

Shit, Meenah seems like she’s in a bad mood. “Uh, no, not really,” he says. He thinks he’s supposed to be trying to stop her, but there’s no way she’d let him. Better to just tag along. “I’m mostly here to make sure you’re disguised.”

Meenah’s glare relaxes a little, though she still seems suspicious. “Disguised? What for?”

“Well, Jade and I don’t know if we should be flaunting the fact that we have powers yet. I mean, that’s what we’ve been trying not to do! But here we are going to a battle in daylight while it’s on the news. We’re going to be seen.”

She purses her lips and thought. “And a lot could happen if people know who we are,” she muses. Then she stops and turns to Eridan, her arms crossed. “So that’s what your - _whatever_ \- is for. How do I get one?”

He slows to a stop just past her and turns. “You just have to want your godtier clothes really badly.”

Meenah gives him a level stare. “That is not normal godtier clothes.”

“I know, it’s weird! But it came anyway and-”

“And they look like you can barely fight in them. I don’t want any part in it if I’m not going to be able to fight. I’d rather just buy new clothes.”

Eridan gasps in offence. “I can totally fight in this!”

“No, you can’t. The fuck are those shoes? The tight waist? The fucking cape? You’re going to be tripping, choking, and bursting your seams before the battle’s over and you know it.”

He huffs and crosses his arms. “I’d like to see you do any better. I bet you’re going to get the most unwieldy dress this Earth has ever seen.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“What else would it be?”

If she were still a troll, Eridan bets she would be growling in annoyance. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll take you up on it. I bet I’ll fight better than you no matter what outfit I get.”

Score. “Then get in it already.”

She huffs and stares at him for a few moments. Then her brows furrow and she closes her eyes to try to focus. He stands back to watch, silently thanking whatever forces Earth has for keeping this road undisturbed. He doubts it’s used often, the only things at the end of it are their houses, but still. It’s surprisingly good luck.

Then the air around Meenah starts shimmering. He perks up in anticipation as he expects to see a giant frilly dress appear around her. Instead she gets much the opposite. Long black and baggy pants appear over her shorts and quickly get tucked into fuchsia combat boots as they appear next. Fuchsia frills at the top of the pants spill out over a belt with a large gold buckler. Next comes crop top in two colors, with black on its base and pink as soon as the sleeves start, as well as a simple gold choker around her neck.

She opens her eyes as large gloves appear over her hands and forearms. Unlike Eridan’s, they’re a pink metal with gold accents. Large golden bracelets lock into place at the end of each one. She holds her arms up to examine the mech “gloves” only for her eyes to widen as her mask appears over her face. The part that covers the top half of her face is much like Eridan’s masquerade mask. Except instead of feathers and delicate patterns, it comes in multiple sections. The main part surrounding the eyes and framing her nose is a shimmering gold with transparent fuchsia lenses over each eye. A solid black piece frames the top of her mask and creates small stylized fins around her temples. To each side are larger fuchsia fins that mimic the ones she had as a troll.

Two black, translucent half spheres rest on either side of the bottom of her mask. As she goes back to examining her gloves (for lack of a better word), a green point of light appears on her bracelet while she’s moving her fingers. The top half of her mask bends to better conform to her face. Meenah’s mask lets out a faint hiss and a black, translucent bubble extends from the spheres to cover her mouth. The bubble locks into place on her choker and the opaque part of her mask as tiny gill-like slits open up in the spheres.

She freezes for a second, obviously processing what just happened. Then she repeats the finger movement and the mask reverts back to normal. Her thoughtful expression morphs into a grin when nothing else appears and she looks back at Eridan with triumph in her eyes. “So much for a dress.”

He looks at her for a second, staring at her outfit and sincerely hoping that she didn’t think he was actually betting anything. Then he breaks himself out of his thoughts and frowns slightly. “I’ll still fight better than you.” No he won’t. What is he saying?

“As if,” she says, before looking down the path. Thank fuck, she’s distracted. “Shit, I wasted time. We’re going to have to hurry to make it to the city when Roxy does.”

Eridan suddenly gets a thought. “We could fly.”

Meenah raises an eyebrow at him. “You mean you can.”

“I think all godtiers can fly. We have our powers and out outfits, so…” he trails off, hoping she gets the point.

She certainly does. Her eyes light up with understanding and her lips part to form another wide grin. “You have a point.” As he watches, it barely takes a second before she’s lifting off the ground. He quickly rises after her. They flost above the trees on either side of the road and she stops a good distance up to look around, her long braids flowing in the wind. Before Eridan can speak, she spots the city and rockets towards it. He shouts after her to try to get her to slow down, but in the end it’s up to him to catch up with her.

Traveling like this, the journey to the city isn’t nearly as long as it would’ve been otherwise. They follow the road Roxy pointed out and it isn’t long before they find what they’re looking for. The buildings surrounding the imps’ spawn point are small apartment buildings. There’s a couple inky imps on the rooftops chasing birds around, as well as a couple news trucks parked a little ways away on the street. There’s marble imps on the streets harassing the police trying to come close. Gunshots are heard, but none of the imps even flinch. Eridan is about to pull his gun out to make an entrance only to yelp as Meenah dives in front of his crosshairs. He floats back and watches her as she ducks into an alley, then huffs before following her.

It turns out she has a reason for entering the ally. As he touches down, he sees two other people there. One of them has a jacket much like Eridan’s, if only slightly more form fitting. It has a collar that reaches halfway up her neck and white ruffles peeking out from it to spill down her chest. Unlike Eridan, however, she has a strapless dress over it. Either that or it’s built into the jacket itself. It ducks under each arm to end high on her chest and back. The dress itself is in various shades of green and resembles a galaxy. Tiny white spirals are scattered across the fabric, representing stars. It ends ends at hip height in the front but flows down to end at knee height in the back. Bright red fabric is tied around the middle to form a bow on the back. The dress has a puffy white underlayer where it hangs down in the back.

Of course, she isn’t just wearing the dress/jacket combo. There’s black form-fitting pants underneath tucked into green boots to match the galaxies. When she turns her head and moves to start towards Meenah, Eridan can see the bright red soles matching the bow. She reaches towards her mask with white, gloved hands and he instantly knows she’s Jade. It’s a mask in the shape of a wolf with the snout, ears, and all. It’s pure white except for a black nose and light green lenses where the eyes would be.

That means that the person behind her must be Roxy. He couldn’t tell at first due to her mask. It’s a solid black wall covering the oval of her face. As she stands up from the dumpster she was sitting on, the mask reflects some of the light finding its way between the buildings. She has a headband with two wired cat ears glowing a neon pink in the shade. The rest of her is covered in a dark blue two piece suit with a pink void symbol where the breast pocket would be. The undershirt is a lighter blue and her tie is the same color as the suit, only decorated with tiny cat faces with four eyes. The undershirt isn’t tucked in, so two little triangles of it stick out from under the jacket.The jacket itself has two coattails hanging down to her thighs.

In contrast to how modern everything else in her outfit looks, her black boots and gloves are practically medieval. Her gloves are pulled over the jacket’s sleeves to cover her forearms. They have three straps each to keep the gloves tight to her arms despite the fact that only one or two would’ve been necessary. The knee-high boots have a similar situation with the straps, only with extra neon pink laces under them. As Roxy comes close, Eridan starts to see that her gloves are actually fingerless. There’s a second set of acrylic-looking gloves under them with small silver dots on the fingers. Presumably so she can still use her phone while her gloves are on.

Meenah glances between them both and lets out a low whistle. Jade has her mask off now to glare at her. Roxy’s mask forms a particularly annoyed-looking text face, the characters glowing a neon pink on a solid black screen. Eridan glances between the ladies and decides he’s better off backing away to check on things outside the alley. Besides, maybe he’ll spot Karkat and Mituna arriving, though the thought that they haven’t even left yet crosses his mind. It would be hard to sneak out of a house with seven other people in it..

“So,” he hears Meenah begin, “I see you two discovered what we have instead of our normal godtier clothes.”

Eridan peers out of the alley. The girls start talking behind him but he doesn’t pay them much mind. Instead he’s watching the police try to corral and control the imps. It isn’t working that well. The imps are treating it like a game and are laughing as they dodge between legs and under cars. An imp starts beating on the window of one of the cars and one of the police shouts for it to stop. It grins maniacally and breaks the window like it just wants to see the man’s reaction.

Eridan decides he’s seen enough. He glances back at the ladies before straightening up and taking his wand out of his strife deck. With only a moment’s hesitation, he waves his wand to summon an angel. The thing comes tumbling out of his weapon, then chirping and rising up to circle around him. He looks up at it with apprehension. They seem friendly enough here but he vividly remembers their violet screeching and attempted murders back on LOWAA. Though, if they’re going to be coming out with every wave of his wand, he figures he’s going to have to get used to them. He’ll consider today a test run.

He pats his shoulder and the angel seems to take the hint. It swoops down to land on that shoulder, its tiny arms coming forward to grip the fabric. Its long tail curls around his neck and it lets out a questioning chir. “ _*Zekkr-ah*_ ”, it asks, pale yellow symbols floating up from its mouth.

That’s another thing. Back in the game, he had no idea what the angels were saying. Apparently he can understand them clearly here. He can hear what they’re saying - “Will we kill?” - and read their symbols too. He recognizes them from the carvings in the cathedrals and statues around his planet. He always wondered what they said. Maybe he’ll know if he ever makes it back there.

“Yes we will,” he answers. “But only the imps. We want to make a good impression.” The angel nods at his words and almost seems to grin. Eridan takes that as a good sign.

He starts forward, his cape flowing dramatically behind him. He exits the alley and the head of every imp suddenly snaps towards him. He falters for a second before coming to a stop. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. The police turn to look at him too and one of them starts yelling. “Go! They could hurt you!” Apparently they don’t know what Eridan’s costume means.

But he does. He puts on a smirk despite his misgivings and raises his wand. The angel moves to wind itself around that arm like a spring. “Or I could hurt them,” he says. Damn. That was a good line. He flicks his wand and the angel shoots forward with a screech. White hot energy from his wand follows shortly afterwards. It takes the form of a spear just in time for it to strike one of the imps. It falls over with a strangled cry as a nearby one gets tackled by the angel. The others see what’s going on and they let out chittering growls before swarming forward towards Eridan. It’s then that he realizes just what a bad move that was. There’s way more than he thought there was and _holy shit he’s going to die-_

A golden trident flicks past him to impale three imps at once. A gunshot rings out and a bullet goes through two separate underlings. A giant fist made out of green cubes launches past him with Roxy behind it. It hits a large swath of imps before the fist disappears, leaving her in the middle of a circle of still-growling enemies. Thank fuck for teammates. He floats above the crowd and exchanges his wand for his rifle. With how large the energy beams can be, it’s the most efficient option with such large numbers. He aims and can’t help but notice two angels sweeping through the crowd. Where’d the second one come from?

He doesn’t question it for long. He charges his rifle and aims for the center of the mass, away from the others. The imps get obliterated, leaving a small but smoking crater in the road. Meenah runs forward to retrieve her trident and use it to vault over to the new hole in the imps. Eridan refocuses on another part of the crowd and trusts her to do her thing. He fires again and another crater forms. Roxy hops over to this one and takes a moment to look towards an alley on the other side of the street before returning to the fight. He glances over there too. Though he can’t see anything, he can guess that’s where the portal is. Hopefully he can protect everyone and keep Roxy away from it at the same time. It should close on its own again, right?

He sees Jade appear in front of the police. Then she makes a motion and all of them disappear to reappear somewhere else. When that’s done, she turns and floats up to start firing her rifle into the crowd. Eridan takes her lead and does the same thing. With Roxy and Meenah hopping from vacant space to vacant space to take care of the imps on the ground level, it doesn’t take long before the swarm is too thin for his rifle to contribute much. He switches it for his wand again and makes a big arc of energy with it. That arc sweeps downwards before splitting off into three separate angels on top of his first two. Shit, does everything that comes from his wand turn into an angel? At first he thinks that could be a problem, but then he watches the way the five angels work in tandem to take out the straggling imps and corral the rest into an easy-to-shoot pile.

He takes a break from fighting to glance around for Roxy. He expects to see her near Meenah, where she was last, but he doesn’t see her there. He looks towards Jade, who’s currently busy shooting the piled imps, but she isn’t there either. A sinking feeling forms in the pit of his stomach as he directs his attention to the alley with the portal. Sure enough, he sees a dark blue form between the buildings. His eyes widen and he darts forward through the air. He can’t help but notice the large, pitch black hole on the ground in front of her. She’s kneeling down in front of it with her back turned to him. He touches down and hesitantly approaches, careful not to startle her into falling.

“Hey, Rox?” he starts. There’s no answer and he takes another step forward. “Let’s do this later. We still don’t know where the portals go.” Her only answer is to reach down towards the portal.

“No!” Jade shouts. Eridan whips his head back and sees nothing. Then he turns around again and sees her next to him. Oh right, teleportation. She rushes forward to grab Roxy and pull her back. Except, just before Jade reaches her, Roxy’s hand touches the surface of the portal.

A scream rips out of her. Eridan jumps back in surprise. Jade wraps her hands around the girl’s waist and pulls but she doesn’t budge. He watches in growing horror as she convulses and chokes.

“What’s going on?” He quickly turns around to see a gaggle of reporters and cameras surrounding the entrance to the alley. Meenah stands in front of them, looking as confident as ever with her trident resting on her shoulders. His angels dart between their shoulders and through their legs to return to him. He absentmindedly holds his wand up for them to disappear into the end of it and looks back at Roxy, only to find that both of the girls are gone as well as the portal. Then he glances back at Meenah in time to hear a reporter's next questions. “Who are all of you? What-”

They don’t get much further than that before Meenah lets out a laugh. “I’m the Thief of-”

Eridan suddenly realizes that he has no idea if they should be talking to reporters. He also realizes that he isn’t about to stand around only to find out later that they aren’t supposed to. So he darts forward and grabs Meenah’s arm. She whips around to berate him only to get tugged along as he runs away from the reporters and out the back of the alley. He’ll deal with her yelling later. For now, he’s set on keeping anybody from making any more mistakes.

* * *

Remora watches the events unfold on the TV in her room. Usually she leaves the TV on as background noise when she’s doing important work. However, the latest story on the news quickly caught her attention. She examines the remarkably short fight between what the reporters are calling ‘heroes’ and ‘monsters’. She’s usually suspicious of those words, but now… Now she can’t find anything else to describe them with. The camera follows a caped hero as he darts into an alley. The hero with the green dress disappears soon after. Finally the hero with the tank top and mech gloves enters the alleyway too. The camera person rushes forward to peer into the alley.

She can barely see anything before the hero with the tank top blocks the view. She wields her golden trident effortlessly, resting it on her shoulders without so much of a thought. Wouldn’t something like that be insanely heavy? One of the reporters asks what’s going on and the girl simply shrugs as streaks of light enter the alley too. Then there’s the question of who they are. Remora leans forward despite herself, eager to hear the answer.

“I’m the Thief,” the girl seems to say, before the caped hero pulls her away. The camera tries to follow them out of the alley but Remora finds that she isn’t paying attention to their failed attempt. Instead she’s sitting back now, her eyes narrowed in thought. The Thief? It sounds familiar. And her voice… She bites her lip as she thinks. What is she a thief of? Who is she? Her voice was familiar. For a second, her mind offers up answers. Then she shudders as a cold ocean envelopes her mind, dragging those answers back to the bottom. What was she asking herself? 

Hm. Must’ve been her work troubling her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked a friend to sketch cool superhero outfits for the six of them and boy do I love them. The outfits were meant to come in later, but I ended up liking them so much I didn't want to keep them from you guys... This is also my first time describing really detailed outfits like these so I hope I did a decent job! I'll post an Imgur album link once Karkat and Mituna are seen with their outfits~ (Mituna's might be my favorite, guys. I love it)
> 
> Also in regards to the discord server, I've decided to hold off on that for now. Maybe If I get more requests for it I'll post a link, but for now I think it'll just be dead and I don't want to clutter up people's server lists.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading so far! Hopefully the next update isn't that far away :)


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